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RESOURCES 



OF THE- 





CALIFORNIA. 



FRESNO, TULARE | KERN COUNTIES, 



Topography, Soil, Climate, Productions, Railroads 
and General Advantages. 



1,000,000 Acres of Government Land 

Subject to Homestead, and Pre-emption. 



LARGE TRACTS OF CHEAP PRIVATE AW RAILROAD LAND. 



IMMIGRATION ASSOCIATION. OF CALIFORNIA, 

No. 10 California Street, 

SAN FRANCISCO. 




Bacon A 



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TO THE READER. 



Please send to us the names and addresses of any Farmers 
East of the Rocky Mountains who, you think, would be interested 
in pamphlets and circulars giving information about California, 
and its millions o'f acres of public lands, which are given away to 
actual settlers in tracts of 160 acres each, under the Homestead 
Laws of the United States. 



IMMIGRATION ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA, 

Office, No. io California St., San Francisco. 



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RESOURCES 



OF THE- 




Hum San Joapii Valley 



CALIFORNIA. 



FRESNO, TULARE 1 KERN COUNTIES. 



Topography, Soil, Climate, Productions, Railroads 
and General Advantages. 



1,000,000 Acres of Government Land 

Subject to Homestead and Pre-emption. 



LARGE TRACTS OF CHEAP PRIVATE AND RAILROAD LAND. 



km 



/ Published by the 

IMMIGRATION ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA, 
No. 10 California Street, 

SAN FRANCISCO. 



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The Immigration Association 
of California, 

No, 10 California Street, San Francisco, 



OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 

Arthur R. Briggs President. 

Wm. L. Merry Vice-President. 

Wm. Steinhart .. Treasurer. 

C. II. Street Secretary and Land Officer. 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

James R. Kelly, Wm. Steinhart, 

Wm. L. Merry, C. F. Bassett, 

Claus Spreckels, Jas. A. Folgeb, 

Wm. Blanding, James Duffy. 

Arthur R. Briggs', 



ENDORSEMENT 

BY THE BOARD OF TRADE. 

At a meeting of the Board of Trade of San Francisco, held at the 
rooms of the Board Dec. 9th, 1881, President Jacob S. Taber in the 
chair, the following resolutions were adopted : 

Whereas, The question of Immigration is one of vast importance 
to business men of this city, and we believe the time has come when it 
should receive intelligent consideration at their hands ; and 

Whereas, This Board of Trade has, through its action, directed 
public attention to the subject, and been instrumental in bringing 
about an organization calculated to do much good to the State ; there- 
fore, be it 

Resolved, That the Immigration Association of California, or- 
ganized under the laws of this State, has the fullest approval of the 
Board of Trade of San Francisco ; that the well known character of the 
gentlemen composing the Association entitles them to the confidence 
and support of the business men and capitalists of the State. 

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Board, any information dis- 
tributed by the Immigration Association of California will be whol- 
ly free from personal motives ; and from its reliability and character 
is worthy the confidence of all persons seeking knowledge of the State. 

At a later meeting of the Board of Trade, held Feb., 1884, the fol- 
lowing resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, The Immigration Association of California has been 
organized under the auspices of the Board of Trade of San Francisco, 
and has been for over two years laboring earnestly and successfully in 
the interests of our commonwealth and of this commercial community ; 
and, 

Whereas, This Association has settled on the public lands of this 
State thousands of desirable immigrants, mostly from the eastern sec- 
tion of the United States, and has distributed broadcast, free informa- 
tion regarding the natural advantages and resources of California ; 
therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the Board of Trade of San Francisco cordially rec- 
ommends to the capitalists and merchants of the whole State, this As- 
sociation, as the most effective, direct and economical method of in- 
creasing their business, and adding to the prosperity of our common- 
wealth ; requesting them also to continue and increase their financial 
support of the Association by monthly subscriptions for its mainte- 
nance. 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Board of Trade are due and are 
hereby respectfully tendered to President Arthur R. Briggs and the 
members of the Immigration Association of California, for their un- 
remunerated and public spirited labors on behalf of the mercantile in- 
terest of this City and State. 

A vote of thanks was also extended to the Directors for the faithful 
services rendered by them during the year just passed. 

The foregoing is a true and correct copy of the resolutions adopted by 
the Board of Trade, endorsing the Immigration Association of Cal- 
ifornia. C. H. Street, Secretary. 

September 1st, 1885. 



The Southern San Joaquin Valley, 

CALIFORNIA, 

COMPRISING THE COUNTIES OP 

KERN, TULARE AND FRESNO. 



Topography . 

The southern portion of the great interior basin of California is* com- 
monly known as the San Joaquin Valley, although it comprises the 
San Joaquin, Tulare, and Kern Valleys. The Tulare Valley is sepa- 
rated from the first-named by a low ridge of land scarcely noticeable; 
and in times of high water the southern lakes and rivers find an outlet 
through Fish and Fresno Sloughs into the San Joaquin River, thence 
to San Francisco Bay. Properly, there is no division line between the 
San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys. The greatest length of the San 
Joaquin Valley is 260 miles, the width varying from 30 to 70 miles. 
The area is 11,290 square miles, or 7,225,600 acres. The eastern and 
western sides of the valley slope from the base of either range of moun- 
tains towards the lakes or streams in the lowest part, at the rate of five 
to eight feet per mile ; also northward to tidewater of the San Francisco 
Bay, with a general fall of one foot to the mile. The base of the Sierra 
range averages 80 miles in width, while that of the Coast Range is 65 
miles. The distance from the base of the Sierra to the summit is 60 
miles, and from base to summit of the Coast Range is about 12 miles. 

The Mt. Diablo or main Coast Range, on the west side of the valley, 
has an average height of about 1,700 feet. The Sierra Nevada Moun- 
tains, on the eastern side of the valley, rise to a much greater height. 
Mt. Whitney, in Tulare County, has an altitude of 15,056 feet, and is 
the highest peak in the United States. From this mountain the sum- 
mit line of the range gradually lessens in height toward the north, and 
more rapidly to the south. These mountains are rugged and broken, 
sharp rocky ridges and granite spires rising abruptly to great altitudes. 



4 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

In the small valleys between these ridges is perpetual snow, and about 
the base of Mt. Whitney are a number of small glaoier3. This region 
has some of the wildest, grandest, and most beautiful scenery in the 
world. The San Emidio or Tejon Mountains, a spur running at right 
angles with the Sierra and Coast Range, and joining the two, form the 
southern boundary of the San Joaquin Valley. 

The foothills commence in the. northern part of Fresno county at an 
altitude of 300 feet above sea level, and in the extreme southern end 
of the valley at a height of 400 feet. In the hills are many valleys, 
some of them large and level, others more uneven. In the Coast Range 
there are few valleys. About the base of the range are gently sloping 
table lands at an altitude of 100 to 250 feet above the valley, from 
which the mountains ascend to sharp and narrow ridges, cut trans- 
versely at intervals of a few miles by natural passes extending through 
the range. The flanks of the Sierra broaden toward the south. 

The Sierra foot-hills in that portion of Tulare County midway be- 
tween the northern aud southern boundaries rise suddenly from the 
plain, but to the northward and southward, in Fresno and Kern Coun- 
ties, the slope is more gradual, and the hills lower and the belt 
wider. 

To the eye, the plain generally presents a very level surface. In 
Fresno county, on the eastern slope of the valley, are scattered hil- 
locks twenty to thirty feet in height, with a wide base rendering them 
inconspicuous even at a short distance. These are not observable else- 
where in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Extending along the entire 
length of the eastern side of the valley, near the foothills, is a belt of 
uneven country known as "hog-wallow " land. These " hog-wallows ' ' 
are little mounds ranging from a few inches to three or four feet in 
height, averaging one to two feet, with a diameter of 16 to 50 feet. 

There are no deep river beds traversing the upper part of the valley, 
although farther north these are common. The beds of the southern 
streams, in fact, are in almost every case higher than the general level 
of the plain, having been built up into low, wide ridges by the alluvium 
deposited during the rainy season through a long series of years. 



Area. 

Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties from the Southern San Joaquin 
Valley. The three counties have an aggregate area of 21,770 square 
miles, or about 13,932,800 acres. Of this large extent of country, 
13,885 square miles, or 8,885,000 acres, are mountain and hill land ; 
and 7,885 square miles, or 5,045,400 acres, are in the valley, making 
an area of arable land in one body in these three counties (deducting 



THE SOUTHERN - SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 5 

the surface covered with water) equal to the total among some of the 
large Eastern States. This land is divided among the counties as fol- 
lows : Fresno, 4,480 square miles,' or 2,867,200 acres of mountain and 
hill land, and 3,520 square miles, or 2,252,800 acres of valley land ; 
Tulare, 3,835 square miles, or 2,454,400 acres of mountain and hill 
land, and 1,775 square miles, or 1,136,000 acres of valley land ; Kern, 
5,570 square miles, or 3,564,800 acres of mountain and hill land, and 
2,590 square miles, or 1,657,600 acres of valley land, including the 
gently sloping plain skirting the base of the hills. There is a more 
gradual ascent from the valley proper in Kern than in either of the 
other two counties. The numerous valleys, large and small, in the 
mountains and foothills, are not estimated as valley land. 



Soils. 

Although the soils of the San Joaquin Valley and the hills on either 
side are for the most part fertile, the character changes frequently. 
The axis of the Sierra Nevada range is granite, but descending from 
the upper ridges the granite is overlaid with a slate formation covered 
generally with soil of a yellowish or reddish color, interspersed with 
large areas of black loam containing considerable vegetable mold. The 
soil of the lower foothills is mainly of the re4 clayey order ; but the 
small valleys almost invariably have a dark loamy soil easily cultivated- 
At the edge of the plains the soil is red, with clay and gravel mixed ; 
these enter largely also into the composition of the " hog- wallows " 
which extend from the hills a distance of six to eight miles into the 
valley. In the extreme southeastern part of the valley, the soil along 
the edge of the hills is of a different character, whitish in color and 
more sandy. On the west side, contiguous to the Coast Range, the 
lower hills are of a loose shale formation. Along the southern part of the 
valley the soil is principally a dark loam. There are portions more 
sandy. Of the latter little is known from practical experience of its 
adaptability to farming. 

The soils of the central and larger portion of the valley can only be 
described by districts. 

Fresno County in the northern part has a sandy loam or alluvial soil, 
the latter being most noticeable where there is evidence of a compara- 
tively recent overflow. The surface stratum is usually deep, but a sub- 
soil of " hardpan " occasionally underlies this region and other parts 
of the county, in some places coming within a few inches of the surface. 
In places the substratum is exceedingly hard. It is usually more 
like a soft sandstone, and water percolates through it freely. The 
harder kind encountered in some places is nearly or quite impervious 



6 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

to water. In some respects the presence of the harder kind is bene- 
ficial, by preventing the water from sinking deep into the ground. 
After a few years, however, the soil becomes dampened and requires 
but a small quantity of water annually. West of the reddish lands, at 
the edge of the plain, the soil for miles is mainly alluvial or sandy 
loam. Toward the southern part of the county and on the Tulare side 
of King's River, are extensive tracts of white ashy land, fertile and 
easily irrigated. There is also here in strips a finer sandy soil of a 
brownish cast, rich in decayed vegetable matter. About nine miles 
west of the town of Fresno the presence of alkali becomes noticeable ; 
and running parallel with the Southern Pacific railroad, fifteen to 
twenty miles distant, is a strip of land excessively alkaline. Beyond 
this, in the vicinity of the sloughs connecting Tulare Lake and the San 
Joaquin Biver in times of high water, is a fertile black soil four to six 
feet in depth, consisting of fine silt and vegetable mold — the latter de- 
cayed tules and aqueous vegetation of many years' growth. Underly- 
ing this deposit is a subsoil of mixed sand and clay, the hardpan not 
extending to that region. These recently formed soils about the old 
sloughs are extremely productive. 

Passing south into Tulare County the soils east of the railroad in and 
about the section known as the " 76 country " resemble those of South- 
ern Fresno already described, and are mostly of a sandy loam ; but about 
ten to twenty miles easterly from Traver the soil is mostly "hog- wal- 
low, " so called, a reddish clay and sandy loam well adapted to fruit, 
grapes and diversified farming. West of this, in the Mussel Slough 
country, the soil is generally sandy, with an admixture of alkali more 
or less apparent, until in the vicinity of Tulare Lake, where, although 
existent, it is less noticeable. The land here is quite dark and slightly 
adobe in places. Along the margin of the lake the soil is sandy, con- 
tains considerable organic matter, and is intermixed with shells. 

In the neighborhood of the town of Tulare the soil is sandy, and 
is very rich in the elements necessary for plant food. A few miles 
west of that place is a large scope of country having a black, 
alluvious soil, the deposit of streams that overflowed their shallow 
channels in seasons of high water, and spread over a large extent of 
territory. Here and there are scattered small knolls and irregular 
shaped ridges, rising two to four feet above the- general surface of the 
plain, which present no indications of having been submerged. 

The soil of the district along Kaweah river, east of Visalia, is a 
deep alluvium, washed from the mountains by the discharge branches 
of the Kaweah river forming its delta, and unevenly distributed over 
a plain of different composition, having isolated patches here and 
there that wear an appearance entirely foreign to the region. Near 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAOUIN VAXLEY, CALIFORNIA. 7 

Deer Creek a sandy, reddish soil extends a great distance from the 
hills into the plains. The same may be accepted as the character 
of the soil southward to the vicinity of Kern River, except where 
it is streaked at irregular intervals with a dark loam. Where Poso 
Creek reaches the center of the plain the land is less sandy, and changes 
from reddish to brown toward the west. It is three to eight feet deep, 
and lies upon a stratum of hardpan resembling that found in Tulare 
County. A few miles north of Poso Creek, in the artesian belt (its lim- 
its are very indefinite, however), the soil is heavier, but contains little 
alluvial matter, there being few streams, and no large ones, in that part 
of the valley, where a very small portion has been subject to overflow. 

A large section of the southern part of Kern County has a deep, porous 
subsoil with clay strata, seldom lying near the surface, and when first 
cultivated it requires more water for irrigating than where a stratum of 
a clayey nature exists at a lesser depth. In the neighborhood of Bakers- 
field, which is situated but a short distance from the base of the moun- 
tains, is a rich sedimentary deposit, charged with just a sufficient 
amount of alkali to strengthen without injuring the soil. But the 
soils are much diversified in the delta of Kern River, branches of the 
stream having changed their courses at different times, and in places 
deposited a rich alluvium. In some places it is quite deep ; and where 
subject to periodical overflow is stratified, each layer being clearly de- 
fined. Here decayed swamp vegetation has also added to the fertility 
of the land. The surface of Kern Island, as that portion of the valley 
lying between "Old" and "New" Kern River is called, is very un- 
even, sand ridges of varying height and irregular in extent succeeding 
each other over a great portion of it. In the lower ground between 
these ridges is a rich black loam. 

In this portion of the valley there is also a tract of 70,000 to 80,000 
acres of reclaimed swamp land, having a deep peaty soil, composed of 
the decayed accumulations of tules and swamp growth. 

There is a large aggregate area of alkaline land (or what is commonly 
known as such) in the Southern San Joaquin Valley, but it forms only 
a small part of the whole. In many places this land has been made to 
yield excellent crops of alfalfa, wheat, and other cereals, as well as of 
fruits. Some of the salts existing in these soils are comparatively 
harmless, and even where present in excess their evil effects may be 
counteracted. 

When deleterious salts are present in quantity in large tracts of land, 
it may not be found profitable to attempt to improve them ; certainly 
not while government and private lands are so cheap and plentiful as 



8 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

Seasons. 

California, and particularly Southern Calitornia, has two seasons, 
both marked — a long and almost cloudless dry season and a short wet 
one — or the year may be divided into a hot and cool season. The 
first showers of the rainy season sometimes come in November, and 
have been known as early as October. But, as a rule, the first heavy 
rains are not experienced until the middle or latter part of December. 
In an average season they continue to visit the valley at intervals of 
one to three weeks until the latter part of February. March and April 
are showery months, very little rain falling in the latter. The cold- 
est storms usually occur in February. Spring, if we may call it such, 
commences in Southern California with the first rain. The first rain 
storm or heavy shower of the wet season starts vegetation, and the hills 
and plains are decked with a robe of green within a few days. The 
wild grasses — or grain crops where the land is cultivated — spring up as 
if by magic after the first application of moisture to the parched soil. 
Vegetation grows rapidly, and while the hills and valleys of the Atlantic 
and Northern States are mantled in snow, the San Joaquin Valley is 
a vast garden of flowers and verdure. As soon as the rains cease the 
warm weather begins, and usually about the end of April or first week 
in May, the flower-mottled green of the great valley presents a brownish 
hue, and a week later scarcely a green sprig is to be seen, so sudden is 
the advent of the warm or dry season, which turns the nutritious alfile- 
rilla and clover, and other wild forage plants and grasses, to a light 
brown color, which is worn through the dry season or until the 
autumnal showers beautify the landscape. Such is an average season ; 
but the wisest weather prophet can never foretell when the country is 
to have an average season. Speculating on weather probabilities 
is nowhere more uncertain than in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. 
Sometimes the rains hold off until late in January, as during 1883 and 
1884, or until March, as in 1882-'83 ; and sometimes they forget to 
come at all. This has been the case in a few instances, when there 
was not enough rain to start vegetation. Such years seldom occur. 
Sometimes, again, the season may open favorably, and have a long dry 
spell in the middle of what are elsewhere in the temperate zone caMed 
the winter months ; or the rains may cease in February. There have 
also been exceptionally long wet seasons with an excessive rain-fall. 
These are also rare. 

The dry season of the year is the warmer one, the warm weather be- 
ginning about the first of May, but not growing hot until June. July 
and the two following months are the hottest part of the year. Septem- 
ber is a warm month, but with October comes a very perceptible change 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 9 

in the temperature, although the weather never gets cold at any season 
—as cold weather is understood east of California. To divide the year 
of Southern California into the four seasons, the months would have 
to be apportioned about as follows : Spring from the first of March to 
the end of April ; summer, from the first of May to the end of Septem- 
ber ; fall, from the first of October to the 20th of December ; winter, 
from December 20th to the end of February ; and even with this 
division, the seasons would not be at all similar to those of the Eastern 
States. 

Climatography. 

The climate of Southern California is described by climatologists who 
have made a critical study of its peculiarities as being one of the 
healthiest in the world. The greater part of the year is warm, 
and during at least three months the weather may be called hot ; but 
although the heat is great, it is neither oppressive nor enervating, 
owing to the dryness and purity of the atmosphere. People work ex- 
posed to the. rays of the sun in the hottest days of summer without be- 
ing in danger. Sunstroke is declared by some to be unknown here. 
There have been instances of prostration from excessive heat, but very 
seldom have they been serious. Whatever may have been the nature 
of these attacks, it is safe to say that there have been more cases of 
sunstroke recorded in a single day in the city of New York, than ever 
known in the whole of the Pacific Coast region. The dry season is 
much the longer one ; but no part of it is wholly warm, for no matter 
to what height the mercury reaches at mid-da}', the nights are in- 
variably cool and pleasant, and the mornings and evenings always de- 
lightful. It is seldom that a spell of very warm weather continues 
longer than a week. The northwesterly breeze prevailing in the 
dry season, and felt every afternoon, is always refreshing, particular- 
ly in that portion of the valley lying east and southeast of Tulare 
Lake, it being tempered in the passage over that body of water. In 
the foothills, the air is warmer and dryer, and the temperature more 
even, although in the valley the fluctuation is slight. 

The weather is not cold in the valley at any time. Ice seldom forms 
more than a quarter of an inch in thickness. Snow has not fallen oft- 
ener than once or twice in a decade, and then did not remain on the 
ground long. In the high mountains of the Sierra the snowfall is heavy, 
but only during the coldest storms does it appear on the summits of 
the Coast Range, and rarely lies longer than two or three days, 
even in the shadiest canons. 

During the year there are, on an average, about 220 cloudless days ; 
many of these occur in the wet season, and during the warm months 



10 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

there is almost uninterrupted sunshine. In the months of Novem- 
ber and December fogs are of frequent occurrence. Usually, this fog 
envelops the valley at night, disappearing early in the forenoon. 

Few places in the United States have so dry an atmosphere as the 
interior portions of California. At New Orleans the average relative 
humidity for the year is 70 ; at Ashville, N. C, 72 ; at New York, 67; 
at Boston, 70 ; at St. Paul, 68 ; at Chicago, 70. The last two places 
named are in the interior of the continent, but the humidity is much 
greater than at Yisalia, in the center of the Southern San Joaquin 
Valley, where it is only 57 ; eleven per cent, less than at St. Paul. 
The average humidity at Visalia, Tulare County, during the dry season, 
is 42, and during the cooler six months, embracing the wet season, it is 
72. Climates have been ranged as follows : moderately dry, humidity 
56 to 70 per cent. ; moderately moist, 71 to 85 ; excessively moist, 
86 to 100 ; thus it will be seen that the climate of Visalia ranks among 
the dryest of the " moderately dry." 



Temperature. 

The Southern San Joaquin Valley is widely known for its long and 
warm dry season, but very erroneous impressions are entertained re- 
garding the extent of the heat during the hottest months. Thermo - 
metrical observations have been recorded in different parts of the val- 
ley and adjacent hills, but in few instances for any considerable length 
of time. The thermometer has been reported as registering 125 deg. 
to 135 deg. Fahrenheit, but the omission of the words "in the sun " 
has given the valley a reputation for summer heat which is neither 
desired nor deserved. This heat does not necesssrily prevent people 
from plying their customary vocations during any part of the day. 
The mercury occasionally rises above 100 deg. in the shade during the 
warmest part of the year, and sometimes for several successive days, 
but seldom for more than three or four. Kern county is probably the 
warmest in the valley, but the difference between it and Tulare or 
Fresno in this respect is not marked. Kern is also the warmest of 
the three counties during the wet season, the frosts being lighter there 
than farther north. The mean temperature of the valley for the 
months of June, July, and August is 80 deg., and for the wet season 
64 deg. But this was obtained by reckoning the temperature as 
observed between sunrise and sunset, and not during the full day of 
twenty-four hours. The annual report of the observer at the U. S. 
Signal Office at Visalia for the year 1879 gives the hottest temperature 
for the year at 108 degrees, occurring in August, and the coldest at 
23 deg. above zero in December. The mean temperature for the 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 



11 



winter there is about 50 deg. Fahrenheit ; for the year about 65 deg. 
At Fort Miller, Fresno county, at an altitude of 400 feet, careful 
observations extending over a period of five years give the following 
result: Mean of hottest day, 90 deg.; mean of coldest day, 47 deg.; 
range 43 ; mean for the year, 06 deg. above zero. 

The subjoined table will give a fair idea of the temperature at differ- 
ent places in the Southern San Joaquin Valley : 





Mean. 


Max. 


Minimum. 


















Elevation. 




July. 


January. 


July. 


January. 


April. 


May. 




Fresno 


87 


47 


109 


30 


42 


48 


292 feet. 


Borden 


89 


42 


110 


29 


42 


44 


274 " 


Goshen 


91 


41 


114 


30 


41 


46 


286 " 


Tulare 


88 


42 


112 


29 


40 


50 


282 " 


Delano 


86 


45 


109 


30 


43 


49 


313 " 


Sumner 


86 


47 


109 


30 


42 


50 


415 " 


Caliente 


82 


45 


104 


30 


45 


46 


1290 " 



The little railroad town of Caliente is at an elevation far above the 
valley, but the temperature as observed there is given on account of 
its location in the thermal belt extending along the Sierra. Owing to 
its situation in the TehachapiPass, however, the temperature is influ- 
enced by breezes that are not felt elsewhere in the belt at the same al-. 
titude, and this may have a tendency to slightly reduce the winter 
temperature. 

The absence of the severe cold of eastern winters and the limit- 
ed range of temperature between the means of dry and wet seasons, 
make the climate of this southern section of the great interior valley 
one of the most pleasant and equable to be found in the world. 



Health. 

As a rule, health in the Southern San Joaquin valley is excellent. In 
the warmest part of the dry season there is little sickness. A northwest- 
erly breeze prevails every afternoon during the warm season, which ex- 
erts a beneficial influence in keeping the air cool and pure. The coun- 
try is not subject to sudden changes of temperature, nor is the varia- 
tion between the extremes of heat and cold during the twelve months 
great. The hot weather is not accompanied by the enervation and 
lassitude experienced in those regions where the atmosphere carries a 
greater percentage of humidity. 

The Southern San Joaquin Valley has never been visited by any 
epidemic, except measles and one or two other diseases common to 



12 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

children,, and is free from any serious epidemic complaints. In locali- 
ties where water is abundant and the drainage imperfect, malarial dis- 
orders are common. Proper drainage has in every case removed 
disease by removing the cause. Wherever water has been allowed to 
stand until green and stagnant, people in the vicinity have suffered the 
consequences. The use of water from shallow wells in irrigated dis- 
tricts and from streams and irrigating ditches is also often injudicious 
and hurtful. 

For pulmonary, catarrhal, and rheumatic troubles and nervous dis- 
orders the climate is of the best. In the Sierra Nevada and Coast 
Range Mountains, warm and mineral springs of excellent quality exist, 
and are resorted to by invalids. There are other health resorts and 
many pleasant places in the mountains for pleasure-seekers, who 
return from a trip of " roughing it" in this genial clime, rested and 
improved in mind and body. 

It may be worthy of remark, also, that stock is affected with few 
diseases, and that so far as known no case of hydrophobia has ever 
been reported in any part of the Pacific Coast. 

Bainfall. 

The rainfall is~very unequally distributed in different sections of 
the valley, and the measurement for one year is no criterion by which 
to judge that of any other. The precipitation is greater in Fresno 
than in Kern County at the southern end of the valley. It is heavier 
also on the east than on the west side of the plain, the rainfall of the 
former being three to four times greater than that of the latter. Rains 
are usually brought by the southerly or westerly winds — but- not in 
every case — and these are deprived of a great part of their moisture on 
the western slope of the Coast Range, the precipitation being three 
times as great there as on the eastern slope, which flanks the great val- 
ley on the west. The Sierra mountains, with their summits in the re- 
gion of perpetual snow, intercept and condense the clouds borne against 
them, and but for their great altitude, the Southern San Joaquin Val- 
ley would have a light rainfall indeed. The amount falling in the foot- 
hills of the Sierra, above an elevation of 1,500 feet, is ample to mature 
crops, failing only once in a long term of years. 

Elsewhere in the Sierra Nevada Mountains it is reckoned that with 
every 100 feet of elevation the annual rainfall increases one-half to 
three-fourths of an inch. The same ratio will probably hold good in 
the Southern Sierra. On the highest ridges of this range the precipita- 
tion is mainly in the form of snow, sixty to seventy feet falling during 
the winter, and lying at an average depth of fifteen feet through the 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 13 

Wet season. That section of the Southern San Joaquin Valley having 
the greatest rainfall is the northeastern portion, lying contiguous to the 
foothills of the Sierra, and that having the smallest is in the vicinity 
of Kern Lake, where it is only about one-half as much as at Bakers- 
field, sixteen miles north. At Fort Tejon, Kern County, in the San 
Emidio Range, at an elevation of 3,200 feet, the greatest annual rain- 
fall daring a period of five years- was 34.2 inches ; the least, 9.8 inches ; 
and the average, 19.5 inches. At Millerton, near old Fort Miller, in 
Fresno County, 400 feet elevation, the greatest annual rainfall in a 
period of six years was 49.3 inches, and the least 9.8 inches. At Vi- 
salia, Tulare County, in the valley, during a period of three years, the 
highest amount recorded was 10.3 inches ; the lowest, 6.7 inches. 

From the annual report of the observer at the U. S. Signal Office at 
Visalia for the year 1879, it is learned that there were forty-eight days 
on which rain fell, divided as follows : January, 8 days, February, 6, 
March, 4, April 10, May, 3, June, 1, October, 3, November, 4, 
December, 9. In July, August, and September there was no rain. 
The rainfall in inches for~eacli month was : January, .70, February, .30, 
March, .53, April, 1.23, May, .47, June, .06, October, .92, November, 
1.03, December, 2.16; total for the year, 7*40 inches. The months 
of heaviest rainfall are December, January, and February, although 
the season of showers sometimes begins as-early-as September and ex- 
tends into April. During the warmest months of the dry season no 
rain falls. At Fresno City the heaviest rainfall, during the last seven 
wet seasons, for any period from September to May, was 15.18 inches 
in 1883-'84, and the lightest 5.38 inches in 1881-82 ; at Visalia, for 
the same months during the last five seasons, the heaviest was 15.65 
inches in 1883-'84, and the lightest 5.44 in 1881-82 ; at Tulare City for 
the same months during the last eight wet seasons, the heaviest rainfall 
was 16.08 inches in 1883-84, and the lightest 4.75 inches in 1881-82. 
At Hanford, in Tulare County, for same period during last five seasons, 
greatest rainfall was 16.55 inches in 1883-'84, and the least 9.10 inches 
in 1881-'S2. At Bakersfield, Kern County, for same period during 
last eight seasons, greatest rainfall was 13.75 inches in 1883-'84, and 
least, 1.28 inches in 1878-79. During the season of 1881-82, when 
light at other places, the rainfall at Bakersfield measured 3. 30 inches. 
That season, 1883-84, was a phenomenal one, beginning late, and con- 
tinuing until June, in which month there was a heavy rainfall, that 
does not figure in the foregoing totals for the season. The following 
table of comparative rainfall at the towns of Fresno, in Fresno County, 
Visalia, Tulare, and Hanford in Tulare County, and Bakersfield in 
Kern County, for the-seasons from 1879-'80 to 1883-'84 inclusive, will 
give a very good idea of the rainfall and its distribution. 



14 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 





'79-'80. 


'80-'81. 


'81-'82. 


'82-'83. 


'83-'84. 


Fresno ~~-—.~~ 

Visalia 


7.52 
13.66 
7.37 
6.88 
5.60 


8.12 
10.65 

9.98 
13.20 

3.59 


5.38 
5.44 
4.75 
9.10 
3.30 


7.06 
6.08 
5.65 
7.43 
4.10 


35.18 
15.65 




16.08 




16.55 


Bakersfteld . .-. ~-. 


13.75 



Water Supply. 

In the Southern San Joaquin Valley are the following named streams, 
beginning on the east side at the north : Fresno River, with a catchment 
area of 260 square miles ; San Joaquin River, of 1630 ; Kings River, 
1855 ; Kaweah River, 608 ; Tule River, 446 ; Deer Creek, 130 ; White 
River, 96 ; Poso Creek, 278 ; Kern River, 2,382. There are several 
smaller streams issuing from the Sierra, whose watershed areas are not 
included. At the southern end of the valley is Caliente Creek, with a 
catchmemvarea-of 461 square miles, and other streams with less. In the 
Tejon or San Emidio mountains are San Emidio Creek, with 72 square 
miles, and Arroyo Plata, Tacuya, Canada de las Uvas, Tejon and smaller 
streams, with an aggregate catchment area of 530 square miles. In the 
Coast Range Mountains, between the southern end of the valley and the 
northern part of Fresno, are Little Panoche Creek, with 147 square 
miles ; Big Panoche with 285 ; Cantua Creek, 130 ; Los Gatos, 480, and 
other little streams with smaller watersheds ; giving for the streams en- 
tering the Southern San Joaquin Valley a total catchment area of 12,454 
square miles. But the rainfall in the mountains feeding the northern 
streams is greater than about the headwaters of the streams in the 
southern Sierra ; and in the San Emidio and Coast Range mountains 
the precipitation is very much less than on the eastern side of the 
valley. 

In seasons of heavy rainfall, the discharge from all of these streams is 
considerable, those from the Sierra carrying volumes of water late into 
the season that entitle them to be called rivers, which designation many 
of them, in seasons when the supply is scant, do not deserve. Owing to 
the light discharge of water from these streams in years of drouth, it is 
impossible to give the average discharge correctly. After consulting 
the most reliable sources of information available, the mean discharge 
for the principal streams mentioned is estimated as follows : Fresno 
River, mean rate of discharge 121 cubic feet per second ; San Joaquin 
River, 5,745 ; Kings River, 5,217 ; Kaweah River, 627 ; Tule River, 
366 ; and Kern River, 2,700. But the maximum discharge from these 
streams during the wet season, and until the snow is melted from the 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 15 

mountains, is much greater than these figures. The maximum rate of 
discharge of Fresno River is about 600 cubic feet per second ; of the 
San Joaquin, 39,048 ; Kings River, 27,090 ; Kaweah River, 6,840 ; 
Tule River, 3,345 ; Kern River, 19,041. Kern, with a larger catch- 
ment area (2,382 square miles) than Kings River (1,853 square miles) 
carries a less volume of water, its source and that of its principal tribu- 
taries being in a region of lighter rainfall. The period of high water 
extends from December to July inclusive, comprising eight months 
of the twelve. 

Calculating that a volume of one cubic foot of water per second will 
irrigate 160 acres of land, these principal streams mentioned, with their 
mean rate of discharge, will furnish an ample supply of water for all 
the land that can be reached by water taken from them, between the 
northern boundary of Fresno County and the southern limit of the re- 
gion naturally tributary to the Kaweah River, excepting the west 
side of the valley north of Tulare Lake, the slope of the county there 
being toward the East. South of the Kaweah River a large section of 
the valley can only receive a sufficient supply for irrigation by storing 
the water in mountain reservoirs during the wet season. This is practi- 
cal, but will not be done until the valley is much more thickly popula- 
ted than now. The streams of the San Emidio and Coast Mountains 
play an important part in the solution of the irrigation problem. Al- 
though 15 per cent, of the water in the streams is lost by evaporation 
and seepage, their mean discharge will supply a sufficient quantity to 
irrigate 1,258,240 acres, and the maximum 12,898,560 acres. By irri- 
gating in winter, when the supply is greatest, and by the conservation 
of water for summer use, and the perfection of a system for its utiliza- 
tion, all the land in the valley desirable for cultivation may, after being 
brought into a proper condition, be supplied by water in sufficient quan- 
tity to make those branches of agriculture for which it is best fitted 
highly remunerative. 

There is one other source of water supply, and an important one, to 
be considered — that supplied by the artesian wells in a wide belt of 
country extending through the valley from north to south. This will 
be referred to at greater length hereafter. 

Canals. 

There are in the three counties, Kern, Tulare and Fresno, about 
1,000 miles of canals and ditches, including the main branches, but 
not including the small distributing ditches. In Fresno county about 
600,000 acres can be irrigated with the present average supply of water, 
and during the months of April, May and June, the period when the 



16 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

snows in "the Sierra melt most rapidly, there is a sufficient quantity of 
water to irrigate 1,750,000 acres. The largest canal from the San 
Joaquin River runs in a northwesterly course along the west side of 
the valley, and carries water to portions of Fresno and Merced coun- 
ties, the end being sixty-seven miles from the point of diversion, near 
where Fresno slough enters the San Joaquin River. This canal has a 
capacity of 600 cubic feet per second. The Fresno Canal and Irriga- 
tion Company has a ditch about 100 feet wide and 35 miles long. The 
Fowler's Switch Canal is nearly as large as the latter, and the Kings 
River & Fresno Canal is also large and important. Other smaller canals 
are taken from the north side of the river ; others also from the southern 
side. These irrigate the northern valley part of Fresno county. Fresno 
River contributes its quota also toward supplying that section. The San 
Joaquin carries one-third more water than Kings River, but does not 
supply so large a quantity for irrigation, the quantiy required for that 
purpose- growing less toward the northern end of the valley, where the 
rainfall is heavier. The large scope of country lying between the San 
Joaquin and Kings Rivers is supplied by ditches from both. From 
the north side of the latter stream are taken six large canals and many 
small ones, some of them mere ditches, making about sixty in all. 
From the south side some twenty-five ditches are diverted, irrigating a 
small part of Fresno and a large section of the northern portion of 
Tulare county. The 76 canal, the largest in the valley, is taken from 
the river on the south side in the. foothills. This canal measures 100 
feet in width on the bottom, and has a capacity of 1300 cubic feet 
per second, and will irrigate 20, 800 acres of land in the space of twenty- 
four hours. The other canals, except a few small, short ones, convey 
water to the Mussel Slough country in that part of Tulare county lying 
south of Kings River and east of Tulare Lake. These were made by 
farmers who organized themselves into ditch -companies and constructed 
canals by their own labor. 

From the Kaweah River and its branches are taken sixteen canals, 
which water all of the Kaweah valley, portions of the lakeside country, 
and the region about the town of Tulare. The capacity of all the ca- 
nals from this river is 660 cubic feet per second. Tule River supplies 
water for a number of small canals, having an aggregate carriage of 350 
feet per second. Deer Creek provides water for a few small ditches. 
White River and Poso Creek furnish considerable water for irrigation. 

Kern River, which enters the valley in the upper or southern part, 
ranks among the largest streams, and more canals and ditches in pro- 
portion to the volume of water are diverted from it than from any of 
the other streams. One of the canals is 90 to 100 feet wide at the 
point of diversion, and supplies water to a large extent of country. 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 17 

One company has expended some $4,000,000 in a system of canals 
in Kern County. This is, however, an exclusive system for the use 
and benefit of its owners, who are also large land-holders. 



Artesian "Wells. 

There is a large portion of the Southern San Joaquin Valley that is 
not dependent upon the streams for irrigation, the necessary quantity 
of water being obtainable from artesian wells. The artesian belt ex- 
tends from one end of the valley to the other. A good flow is usually 
obtained in boring to a depth of 300 to GOO feet. 

The first successful boring for artesian water in Tulare County was 
made by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1879, near Tipton, and a flow 
rising a half-inch above the rim of the casing secured at a depth of 
310 feet. The well is on the eastern margin of the belt. This 
water was used for irrigating a 40-acre tract of forest trees, 
which it did successfully. No other wells were bored until 1881, 
when the Enterprise well, four and one-half miles west of Tulare, was 
bored, and a flow of one and a half-inches obtained at a depth of 330 feet. 
No rock is encountered in boring, strata of sand, clay and gravel, suc- 
ceeding each other. It is therefore necessary to use iron casing the whole 
distance, which is forced down after the auger. The depth at which the 
first water-bearing stratum of sand or gravel is penetrated varies from 
310 to 040 feet, although some of the wells have been put down to a 
depth of 800 feet, passing through several of these strata. The deepest 
in Tulare County are in the northwestern part, near Lemore. The sec- 
tion in which the greatest number of good, flowing wells have been ob- 
tained is west of Tulare, and near Tipton, the water from some of them 
rising to a height of five or six inches above the casing. Wells are 
also shallower here than about Lemore. The average depth in Tulare 
County is about 450 feet. There are in Tulare County about two hun- 
dred wells. It is impossible to give the exact number as so many new 
ones are being bored. Since the success of the Enterprise well, the 
number has been increasing continuously and rapidly. 

In Fresno County fewer wells have been bored. In the southern 
part of the county water is obtained in one well at a depth of 152 feet. 
Others have been bored in the region bordering the San Joaquin River, 
the depth there varying from 150 to 200 feet. In Kern County, at the 
southern extremity of this great basin, artesian wells were bored several 
years ago, and water was obtained at a depth of 200 to 250 feet, the 
average depth being less than in Tulare County. Some fifteen or 
twenty wells have been bored in the county. One 470 feet deep fur- 
nishes about thirty gallons per minute. Others have been bored more 



18 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

recently north of Poso Creek, in the region about Delano and Alila, and 
elsewhere in the county. 

The average flow from the wells of Tulare County may be placed at 
two and a half inches above the casing. The quantity of water fur- 
nished by a well of this capacity is about 247 gallons per minute, or a 
little more than half of a second foot. Water is measured in various 
ways in different parts of the State, but at the State Irrigation Conven- 
tion held at Riverside, a resolution was passed recommending the adop- 
tion of the second foot as the unit of measurement — i. e. , a volume 
running one cubic foot per second. In parts of the San Joaquin Valley 
shallow wells have been known to fail after two or three successive 
years of light rainfall, and to flow again after a wet season. This has 
not happened in the southern portion of the valley. The deeper wells 
continue to flow regularly. 

It is claimed that some of the wells in Tulare County will irrigate 
160 acres of land thoroughly ; and after the ground has been irrigated 
and cultivated a number of years, and the methods of applying the wa- 
ter are perfected, a greater acreage can be successfully watered. 

Wheat. 

No State in the Union is better suited to wheat growing than Cali- 
fornia. It is the leading industry in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. 
The land is well adapted to this crop, and the acreage increases yearly 
from seeding of new ground, although much of the land that has been 
long devoted to grain is being used for alfalfa, fruit, and diversified 
farming. 

It is a difficult matter to approximate with accuracy the acreage of 
land in the valley devoted to growing wheat. Probably 500,000 acres 
in the three southern counties are in small grain. It is estimated 
that three-fourths of the grain grown in Tulare, Kern and Fresno 
counties, is wheat ; a little more than one-eighth is barley, and of corn 
(Indian and Egyptian) less than one-eighth. 

In cultivating grain lands, it is the custom with some to plow im- 
mediately after harvest, while the ground is yet dry, and sow before 
the first rain. Owing to the dryness of the soil and of the atmosphere,, 
seed may lie in the ground for months in the warm season without be- 
ing destroyed. 

In harvesting very large fields, the most improved machinery is em- 
ployed. Reapers are seldom used, as, owing to the long, cloudless, 
warm season, it is unnecessary to bind grain. Headers are used al- 
most exclusively. A number of " combined-harvesters " have been in 
use in the valley and work satisfactorily. These large machines head, 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 19 

thresh and sack the grain. Owing to the evenness of the plain the 
most improved labor-saving machines for all purposes of cultivation 
and harvesting are operated successfully. 

The grain is put up in sacks holding about 120 pounds each. Ow- 
ing to the continuous dry weather of the summer and fall, when even 
a light shower is looked upon as a phenomenon, grain lies unprotected 
in the field, or is piled along the railroad side-tracks for months, with- 
out damage from exposure. Grain after maturity may also stand un- 
harvested in the fields for weeks and months without material injury. 
On account of the extreme dryness of the atmosphere, wheat is hard and 
firm, and is highly prized abroad. It makes an excellent quality of 
flour. There are several flour mills distributed through the counties 
of Fresno, Tulare and Kern. 

There are many large warehouses in the valley, where thousands of 
tons of grain are stored annually. There are also very extensive ware- 
houses at different shipping points on San Francisco Bay and vicinity. 

Grain crops are grown with little trouble. There is no sod on the 
plain, no brush to be cleared, and no previous preparation necessary. 
Irrigation is not necessary, and its practice is an exception. It has 
however been followed with excellent results. 

The Mussel Slough region in Tulare County was the first to be irri- 
gated on a large scale, and soon became famous for the productiveness 
of its land. In the foothills there is generally sufficient rain, ex- 
cept in very dry years, to mature crops. Where the soil is loose and 
sandy, and where irrigation has been in use for a term of years, little 
water is required other than that supplied by the rainfall, the ground 
being sufficiently moist from seepage. In places moisture will perme- 
ate the ground for miles from the ditches. 

The methods of irrigating wheat vary according to the location and 
character of the land. Usually the water is taken from large canals, 
already described, into smaller distributing ditches, and conveyed to 
the land. In soil that is readily permeable it is only necessary to run 
ditches through the fields at distances of a quarter of a mile or less 
apart, and this, with the rain to moisten the surface, is all that is re- 
quired. Where the soil is heavier, the usual method is to divide the 
field into " checks" — sections of rarious sizes, around which is thrown 
up a low embankment or levee — and into these is turned a stream from 
one of the distributing ditches, which is allowed to run until the piece 
is covered with water to the required depth. The size of these checks 
varies according to the surface and character of the land, and the 
amount of water available. They range from a fraction of an acre to 
twenty and thirty acres each. 

Where artesian wells supply the water, checks are generally smaller 



20 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

than where a large head is obtainable from ditches. Where the ground 
is exceedingly uneven, as on portions of the southern end of the valley, 
on Kern Island, the checks, on account of their irregularity of size and 
shape, are plowed up each year and made anew. 

In some portions of Kern County the farms comprise from 640 to 
1800 acres, and the checks made for irrigating are surrounded by 
strong, low embankments, made with the view of permanency. The 
ditches are made on the highest land, and the levees enclosing these ir- 
regularly shaped checks are built so as to take advantage of the natu- 
ral inequalities in the surface. 

Grain, generally, is irrigated once each season. In ordinary years, 
the water is applied when the grain has headed out, and in dry seasons 
earlier. Four experienced men, two employed during the day, and the 
same number at night, will irrigate 125 acres in twenty-four hours. 

The amount of water required to moisten the soil grows less each 
year after irrigation, for. when the soil which has been dry to a great 
depth for a number of years becomes saturated, the application of a 
much less quantity of water is necessary. The depth to water in the 
Poso Creek country is from ten to fourteen feet. The soil is three to 
nine feet deep. The yield of wheat is twenty-five to forty bushels to 
the acre. 

The yield of wheat varies according to circumstances. Cold, dry, 
north winds, prevailing for a short time, when grain is "in the head," 
are liable to do serious harm, particularly if the ground is dry. 
Where the soil is damp, the injury is much less. Some years these 
northerly winds are frequent, although the damage resulting there- 
from is seldom great on irrigated ground ; and in others there are 
no dry winds from that direction in the spring. A very dry wind, 
when the grain is matured, will cause it to fall out, but it seldom 
blows so late in the season. 

One of the regions best adapted to growing wheat successfully is in 
the vicinity of Grangeville, Tulare County, a section of rich, sandy 
country which has been devoted to that purpose for several years. 
But as the land has increased in value, fruit growing is receiving more 
attention. The average yield of wheat per acre for that district is 
about thirty bushels, but as high as forty and even fifty bushels have 
been harvested. 

This land is irrigated only by the seepage from large ditches which 
run through it, none being needed on the surface, and the cost of irri- 
gation for the year is $100 for 160 acres, or 62^ cents per acre. The 
usual cost per acre in Tulare County is $1 to $1.50; elsewhere it is 
$1.75, and on the uneven land on Kern Island, where the checks have 
to be rebuilt each year, the cost averages from $1.50 to $4 per acre. 
On other parts of the Island it is as low as fifty cents per acre. 



THE SOUTHERN RAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 21 

Counting the cost of growing wheat in the favored section about 
Grangeville, it is estimated that $9 per acre will more than cover the 
cost of plowing, seeding, irrigating, harvesting, threshing, and hauling 
to a shipping point. 

A well-known farmer of that district, who has made # wheat growing 
a specialty, informed the writer that his land has paid $20 per acre 
above every expense since 1876 ; another states that his wheat farm 
has netted him an annual profit of 10 per cent, on a valuation of $100 
per acre, at which price he holds his land, although this is above the 
price of highly improved land in this vicinity. It is quite common in 
all parts of the valley, after a crop has been harvested, to let the land 
lie untouched the following year, when a volunteer crop will spring up. 
This often pays well, owing to the absence of any expenditure for til- 
lage and seeding. Well cultivated land, however, always produces the 
better crop. Good land, properly worked and supplied with the req- 
uisite amount of water, whether furnished by natural or artificial 
means, may be made to realize handsome returns. As much as eighty 
bushels per acre have been gathered, but this is an extraordinary har- 
vest. Yields of forty-five to sixty bushels per acre, in various por- 
tions of Fresno, Tulare and Kern Counties, are not uncommon, but it 
is doubtful if the average is above twenty-five bushels. Sometimes the 
yield, even in a good year, is as low in some localities as eight bushels 
per acre, and on large areas it does not reach beyond ten, fifteen and 
twenty bushels. But if all land were thoroughly cultivated, as it 
should be, and supplied with water when necessary, the average per 
acre would be much greater than now. 

Barley. 

The cereal ranking next in importance to wheat, is barley. In qual- 
ity and quantity, California leads all other States. What is not 
required for home consumption is exported. It grows well in all parts 
of the valley, and ripens with less moisture than wheat. Two crops 
have been known*to be harvested from the same piece of ground in 
one season, each averaging forty bushels to the acre ; and occasionally 
acrop of barley is grown, with the aid of irrigation, after one of wheat 
has been harvested. Barley is frequently sown, also, in new ground 
plowed too late for wheat. If there be not enough moisture to produce 
a good growth of stalk, it will head out and mature when not more 
than ten or twelve inches high, but the grain, when thus grown, is of 
inferior quality. When irrigated the same as wheat, sixty bushels per 
acre is not an uncommon yield, and ninety bushels have been harvested 
near Bakersfield in Kern county. The average yield for the valley, 



22 THE SOUTHERN SAN" JOAQUIN" VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

which may be increased by more thorough cultivation, is about thirty 
bushels to the acre. 

Oats. 

Oats do well, but are little grown in the valley. They have been 
tried in all portions of the valley, but more in Fresno than in Tulare 
or Kern Counties. They are cultivated in the foothills, however, 
along the line of the mountains. This is their natural home. A spe- 
cies of wild oats indigenous to that region grows luxuriantly every sea- 
son on the hillsides. 

Rye. 

Rye grows well on both foothill and valley land, but is not cultivated 
to any great extent. 

Corn. 

Corn ranks next to barley in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. It 
has been cultivated a number of years, but in the counties of Tulare 
and Fresno has not always been considered a success. The stalk grows 
luxuriantly, but the yield is small. Many excellent crops have, how- 
ever, been harvested. That grown in the southern part of the valley 
is good. It attains great height, and yields prolifically. The yield is 
often 60 bushels, but the average is about 30 bushels per acre. The 
climate of all parts of the Southern San Joaquin Valley seems adapted 
to the production of Indian and Egyptian corn. Within a few years 
Egyptian corn has been grown to a considerable extent. It requires 
but little irrigation, and produces heavy crops. It is sometimes 
ground, and makes good meal, but is grown principally for feed, being 
considered excellent for this purpose. It is frequently planted as a 
second crop, but produces more heavily when planted in the spring. 
The expense of planting and harvesting is greater than that of wheat 
or barley. There are many fields from one hundred to several hun- 
dred acres in extent. 

Buckwheat. • 

Buckwheat is grown very little in any part of California, and is not 
among the products of the Southern San Joaquin Valley. 

Canary Seed 

Canary Seed is grown to a limited extent. There are a few fields 
in Tulare County, but in all the southern portion of the valley there 
are only a few hundred acres. It yields well, requires less moisture 
than wheat, but the demand for it is quite limited. 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 23 

Hay. 

One of the most important as well as the most remunerative crops 
grown in the valley is alfalfa — a species of clover allied to lucerne, 
which is peculiarly adapted to a climate like that of Southern Califor- 
nia. It grows best on alluvial soil, but, does well in any part of the 
valley. It grows better on alkaline soils than wheat or barley, having 
a long tap-root, which is sent deep into the soil, below the injurious 
salts. The long roots also reach moist earth, where such exists within 
a depth of ten to fifteen feet. The land is prepared for it in the man- 
ner already described for grain, by surrounding small areas with em- 
bankments, to facilitate irrigation. It is planted only once, and is al- 
lowed to grow undisturbed for years. It must be watered by flooding, 
except where the land permits of seepage readily, in which case surface 
irrigation is unnecessary. It should be watered two or three times the 
first season, but thereafter will not require it so often. It commences 
to grow usually in February, but as that month is generally cool, does 
not grow rapidly until March. The first crop of hay is cut in the latter 
part of April, and generally two to four times during the season, the 
last crop being taken off in the latter part of September or first of Oc- 
tober. After this it grows slowly, and is used for pasturage until 
December, when it ceases to grow. On good land, and with a proper 
supply of water, it may be mowed five times, yielding one to two tons 
of cured hay to the acre from each cutting. It has been known to pro- 
duce fifteen to sixteen tons to the acre in a single season, but such 
cases are rare. Ten tons is not uncommon, but the average is 
four to eight tons, the smaller quantity on land that is insufficiently 
irrigated. By many it is cut only once or twice for hay, stock being 
allowed to pasture upon it during the greater part of the year. Cattle 
are usually pastured on the alfalfa fields for a few days following each 
cutting. ' It is generally cut while in the flower. 

Alfalfa soon kills out all weeds and grasses on the land where it 
grows. One farmer in Kern County, who has more than a thousand 
acres in alfalfa, says his best "stand" was on moist land, on which 
he sowed alfalfa seed amongst salt and wire grass without plowing the 
ground or harrowing the seed in. It grew well from the first, and soon 
crowded out all other vegetation. Alfalfa hay usually sells for about $5 
per ton loose in the haying season, and in the winter $8 to $10 per ton 
baled. The total expense of cutting, baling, etc., is about $5 per ton. 
The price of hay fluctuates greatly, depending much upon the season. 
Frequently the last cutting of the season is allowed to mature, and is 
threshed to obtain seed, which usually sells at about 12£ cents per 
•pound. A good crop of seed is about 400 pounds to the acre — realizing 



24 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN" VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

$50 gross, after other crops of hay have been cut. The demand for 
seed is, however, limited. The straw from the thresher is eaten by 
cattle the same as hay. 

The quantity of alfalfa hay cut exceeds that of all other kinds, 
and the area of land devoted to it increases annually, although a few 
farmers have discontinued its Cultivation. 

Wheat, barley, oats, aud sometimes rye, are cut for hay, and 
bring a higher price than alfalfa. On moist land two and three cut- 
tings of wheat and barley hay are occasionally obtained. But this is 
uncommon, and the later crops are much lighter than the first. 

In a favorable season wild feed on the plains, consisting principally 
of nutritious alfilerilla and California clover, attains a height of twelve 
to twenty inches, forming a thick mat of verdure. This is frequently 
cut for hay in the spring, and is excellent for all kinds of stock. 
Sometimes, later in the season, farmers run a common horse-rake 
through the dry grass, tearing out considerable of it, which is stacked 
for whiter use ; and although inferior to that cut at the proper season, 
cattle are fond of it. 

Orchards. 

On account of the wonderful fertility of soil and adaptability of cli- 
mate, a multitude of fruits, foreign and native, are grown. Trees bear 
young, are wonderfully prolific, the fruit is of excellent quality and 
fine color, and all kinds are grown, from sub-tropical varieties to those 
of the north temperate zone. 

The Southern San Joaquin Valley is peculiarly adapted to stone 
fruits, such as peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and prunes ; also 
pears and blackberries. Other kinds do well, but do not bear so well 
or regularly as those mentioned. 

The demand for good fruit has always been equal to the supply. A 
great quantity is canned ; a large quantity is also placed on the mar- 
ket dried, there being several processes of drying or "evaporating" 
fruit. No portion of the Union has a climate better adapted to sun- 
drying than Southern California. There are several other ways in 
which fruits may be prepared for sale and export. California already 
enjoys a wide and excellent reputation for her fruits, prepared by can- 
ning, drying, preserving, or other processes, and the demand in- 
creases from year to year. Quantities of fresh fruits are now sent 
to the Eastern States and the Territories, and prepared fruits to 
Europe, China, Japan, Australia, South and Central America, and the 
Islands of the Pacific. 

Trees should have the least possible amount of moisture that will 
permit of the perfect ripening of the fruit. They may be irrigated by 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 25 

flooding, or by running the water in ditches. A young orchard may 
need one wetting during the warm season the first and second year, but 
never after, unless the earth be dry to a great depth, which is not likely 
to be the case in any portion of the San Joaquin Valley where irriga- 
tion is practiced. In lands that will permit of seepage, irrigation by 
either of these processes is unnecessary after the first year. 

It is difficult to state what net proceeds may be counted on per acre 
from an orchard of assorted fruits, owing to many circumstances that 
influence the yield and market prices. From an orchard of three 
acres of assorted trees five years old, grown in Fresno, the fruit was 
sold on the trees for $450 net, or $150 per acre. Another orchard of 
assorted trees netted §280 per acre. It has been estimated by fruit 
growers, taking one year with another, and considering the possi- 
bility of low prices or partial failure of crops, that an orchard in full 
bearing and growing 120 trees to the acre will yield an average profit 
of 50 cents to §1 per tree, or $60 to $120 an acre. 

Deciduous Fruits. 

Peaches. — Peaches do well in any part of the valley and foothills, 
except on strongly alkaline lands; and in one orchard on Kern Island, 
peach and other trees are growing in what appears to be an alkali bed, 
a thick coating of the white, lime-like substance lying on the surface. 
It may be that the salts in that particular spot are not of the most in- 
jurious kind, but the land is what is commonly known as alkaline. 
The trees grow luxuriantly, and bear well. Certain varieties do bet- 
ter in the hills than in the valley, and all varieties ripen sooner in the 
warm foothill valleys than on the open plain. Extending along the 
Sierra foothills is a thermal belt within the limits of which the ten- 
derest temperate and semi-tropical fruits grow, and mature early. 
This is destined to become one of the most important fruit-growing 
sections in California. . Peaches in the valley are among the first in 
the State to ripen, but in the adjacent foot-hills all early fruits ripen 
about two weeks sooner. The date of the first ripening of the early 
peaches varies two to three weeks, according to the season. 

The peach bears well in every part of Southern San Joaquin Valley, 
and the flavor is excellent. Too much moisture, however, injures the 
flavor and also the keeping quality of fruit, and predisposes trees to 
attacks of various insect pests. It is unnecessary to enumerate the 
many kinds grown ; but among the preferred varieties are Early Alex- 
ander, Early Crawford, Foster, Jones' Seedling, Susquehanna (free- 
stones), and the Orange, Heath, White Persian, Lord Palmerston, and 
Rosenberg, clings. The Briggs' Red May and Beatrice, .clings, and 



26 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

Tillotson, freestone, are good bearers. There are many favorite 
peaches, as George the Fourth, Lemon Cling, Stump the World, and 
others. 

The following figures regarding the yield of peaches are furnished by 
experienced fruit growers. From two-year-old trees in the Mussel 
Slough section of Tulare County, 135 pounds of peaches have been 
gathered, and 250 pounds from trees three years old. On Kern Island 
400 pounds to the tree, when five or six years old, is considered a fair 
average. One grower says that an exceedingly low estimate for trees 
five years old is 250 pounds of peaches. At one-half cent per pound, they 
will bring $1.55 per tree, and an acre of 108 trees would yield a reve- 
nue of $135. The average expense of cultivating and picking the fruit 
will not exceed $15 per acre, which leaves $120 as a net return. From 
this deduct the cost of packing, hauling, shipping, etc. , and at a very 
low estimate, after allowing for other costs and probable losses, a net 
profit of $75 per acre remains. This is for shipping the peaches as 
picked from the trees. In evaporating, 5^ pounds of fresh peaches are 
required to make one of dried. The cost of shipment in proportion to 
the price received is, of course, much less than for fresh fruit. 

For market the peaches of this section of the State are second to 
none. They are shipped to Los Angeles, the center of a fruit-growing 
region, before tney ripen at that place, and are shipped by express 
while the season lasts to various points in Arizona, New Mexico, Tex- 
as, and elsewhere in the Southwest. The quantity shipped increases 
yearly, and the fruit compares favorably with the best samples from 
any portion of the State. At various State and District agricultural 
fairs, where peaches from Southern San Joaquin Yalley have been ex- 
hibited, they have been awarded premiums and have received flattering 
notices from the press. 

Apricots. — The fruit next in importance to peaches in the south- 
central portion of the State is the apricot. In many parts of the val- 
ley where orchards have been bearing for five or six years, they have 
never missed a crop, and in no instance has less than a half crop been 
grown. The apricot ripens early in the valley, but earlier in the lower 
foothills. Apricots grow to large size, are unexcelled in flavor, and 
are sure bearers. It is a favorite fruit among orchardists in the San 
Joaquin valley, and of 75,000 fruit trees set out in Tulare County in 
the winter of 1884, there were a greater number of apricots than of 
any other kind. Dried apricots, as well as those canned or preserved, 
bring a good price. Five and one-half pounds of green apricots make one 
pound of dried. The Moorpark is one of the best known and most 
highly-prized varieties, and produces well, although a shy bearer 
farther north. The Thomas Late is a valuable apricot, from the fact 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 27 

that it ripens late and extends the season two or three weeks. It bears 
well, is a " sure cropper," is of good size and flavor, and hangs to the 
tree for a longer time than most other varieties without getting soft. 
Apricots in the warm interior begin to produce the second year from 
the bud — L e., after one year in the nursery and one in the orchard. 
Profits are about the same as realized from the cultivation of the peach. 

Nectarines. — This excellent fruit has proved a failure in many parts 
of the Pacific Coast, where peaches and apricots do well ; but careful 
inquiries made of many of the best known fruit-growers of Fresno, 
Tulare, and Kern Counties have invariably elicited answers approving 
of its cultivation. It is an excellent fruit for market, although being 
as yet less grown, is not in so great demand as some other descriptions. 
The Nectarine ripens about July 1st, when the greater part of the apri- 
cot crop has been disposed of. Of a dozen varieties of white, yellow, 
and red nectarines grown in the valley, none are extremely early or 
very late. These varieties extend the time of cropping over a period 
of five weeks. 

Prunes and Plums. — The acreage of plums and prunes is being in- 
creased rapidly. Both plums and prunes bear the second year, and 
produce good crops the fifth and sixth years, and trees, after reaching 
that age, return fair profits. It requires 100 pounds of fresh plums 
or prunes to make 30 pounds dried, unpitted. When pitted, 100 
pounds of fresh fruit will make 16 pounds dried. The best varieties 
grown here for drying are the Hungarian, Petit Agen and Santa Cath- 
arine. Several varieties of plums are grown, and all yield well. The 
Damson, Greengage, Yellow Egg, and Coe's Golden Drop are among 
those preferred. The growing of these fruits is receiving increased 
attention each year. 

Pears. — The pear has proved a success wherever grown, except in 
lands having a superabundance of alkali. It is a very long-lived tree, 
there being some in the Coast counties more than one hundred years 
old. Much of the fruit is large and of fine flavor ; in fact, it is pronounc- 
ed by competent judges as perfection. The best variety grown for the 
table or other purposes is the Bartlett, which is a superb fruit. It is 
one of the first to ripen ; the Winter Nellis is the latest. The latter, 
with the Beure Glairgeau and Eastern Beure are choice for shipping. 
Many other varieties are grown. The pear is a profitable fruit. It is 
grown in all parts of the valley, and is being planted more extensively 
than formerly. 

Apples. — The apple is one of the most common fruits among the val- 
ley farms, but, with few exceptions, has a much better flavor when 
grown in the hills. Those that ripen early find a suitablexslimate in the 
prairie lands, but later varieties that naturally mature slowly do better 



28 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

at a higher altitude. All kinds do well in the hills, and the late ones 
reach perfection in the rich soil and climate of the mountains, where 
they mature slowly and have an excellent flavor. Among the kinds 
that have grown well in the valley when properly cultivated are the 
Wine Sap, White Winter Pearmain, Ben Davis, Rhode Island Greening 
and Roman Beauty. Other kinds have grown well and borne large 
crops of fine looking fruit, but those grown in the foothills of the 
Sierra are superior in quality. 

Cherries. — It is the general opinion that cherries will not pay in 
the Southern San Joaquin Valley. However, most of the trees are still 
young. Cherries are not found in large numbers in any orchard. 
One experienced fruit-grower says that cherries will do well if the 
trees are headed low so as to shade the trunk. The warm sun 
proves injurious to them. They should be in a protected place if pos- 
sible. It maybe that experiments by careful observers will result in 
making the fruit a success, but at present it is in little favor. 

Figs. — The fig grows luxuriantly and bears heavily in every part of 
the valley and foothills, and thrives with the least possible attention. 
All varieties that have been tried do well. The trees should be set out 
not less than thirty feet apart, and although they do not require the same 
amount of cultivation and care as other trees, they are the better 
for receiving it, and work expended on them judiciously will be repaid 
in quantity and size of fruit. Some varieties bear three crops a year, 
and frequently the second and third are better than the first. A sin- 
gle tree in good bearing has produced a thousand pounds in a season. 
But the choicest kinds usually bear only one crop, and that a heavy 
one. When dried they find ready sale, and the loss in weight is 
slight. The tree is grown in many orchards, but not in any 
considerable numbers in many places. The trees are readily propa- 
gated from cuttings. An income of $5 to $7 per tree when in full 
bearing is not uncommon. The best kinds find a ready market at 
good prices. 

Vine Growing. 

Little attention was given to viticulture in the great interior "valley 
until a comparatively recent date, the hillsides and valleys of the moun- 
tain ranges and the more northerly counties being considered the 
only suitable places for vines. But now some of the largest vineyards 
in the State, and of the world, are in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. 
In the three counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern there are probably — 
now, 1884— not less than 9,000 acres, four-fifths of which are in Fresno 
County. Vine-growing is now receiving greater attention in Tulare 
County than heretofore, and several hundred acres were planted during 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 29 

the past season. The increase in Kern were additions to small vine- 
yards. The vine grows and bears well in the valley and in the adja- 
cent hills. In the mountains are varieties indigenous to this Coast, 
but the grape is small and sour, and little experimenting in the way 
of propagating it has been done. There is probably no part of the 
world that will produce successfully so many varieties of grapes as Cali- 
fornia. Foreign varieties do best in that portion of the State where 
they find a clime resembling that of their nativity. The manufac- 
ture of raisins and wines in the Southern San Joaquin Valley is be- 
coming one of the leading industries of the State. Every variety of 
grape common to the Eastern States is grown in the southern part of 
California successfully, and thirty to forty varieties are sometimes 
found in a single large vineyard. 

The choicest European varieties which can be grown in any part of 
the world do as well here. Of foreign varieties, about 150 are grown in 
the valley. They grow well on the slaty hills and in the loamy soils of 
the Sierra. Most varieties grown in the valley seem to do best on the 
sandy loam, red sandy, or the white ash soils, but they grow well and 
bear heavily in all of the better soils. 

The method employed in irrigating vines is largely dependent 
on the character of the soil and the lay of the land. If it be level, 
plain land, the vineyard is frequently divided into checks, as in the 
case of grain fields, and the ground is flooded. The first year it is 
necessary to irrigate sufficiently to secure a good stand ; but there- 
after, occasionally will be sufficient. Sometimes the water is run 
in ditches between the rows ; on uneven land, irrigating is nearly 
always done in this way. Where water is applied to the soil for a 
number of years in succession, the dryest lands gradually become sat- 
urated with moisture, until further application of water by irrigation 
is actually hurtful ; in some instances it has been necessary to drain 
the land. Winter flooding is sometimes practiced. Where the plain 
land is uneven, it requires a certain amount of leveling in order to 
irrigate effectively and economically. This is quite expensive on the 
hog wallow lands. 

Cuttings are generally obtainable at $5 per thousand, but rare va- 
rieties cost more, some as much as $20 per thousand. The cost of 
planting a vineyard ha3 been estimated at $20 to $40 per acre, includ- 
ing the cost of cuttings and the first year's irrigation and cultivation. 
Where land is very uneven, the expense of leveling will make the 
cost greater. The large vineyards of Fresno County at four years of 
age average four tons of grapes to the acre ; and when in full bearing, 
may in exceptional years produce seven tons per acre. Some prolific 
varieties have yielded considerably more. 



30 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

Table Grapes. 

All of the best known varieties of table grapes do well in Southern 
San Joaquin Valley. Among the most highly-prized varieties are the 
Sabal Kanskoy, Golden Chasselas, Rose of Peru, Black Malvoise, and 
Malaga. The last two named are also made into raisins. Other table 
grapes that are excellent for shipping are the Flame Tokay, Pur- 
ple Damascus, Black Portugal, Mill Hill, Hamburg, Emperor, Deacon 
Superb, Yance Jaime, Black Ferrara, Carnichon, Muscat of Alexan- 
dria, White Malaga, Chard enay, Degoutant, Tokay de Lunel. The 
Mission is also a good shipper, but is a small grape. The raising of 
these varieties has proved remunerative, and as facilities for shipping 
improve, the market will be extended and the demand increased. 

To name the many other varieties of grapes grown in the Southern 
San Joaquin Valley would be difficult. But some of the well-known 
foreign grapes not enumerated already are the White Mice, Large 
Bloom, Verdal, Almeria, Charbono, Petite Sirrah, Black Morocco, 
Sweetwater, Periot do Burgoyne, and Fenturier. Many varieties com- 
mon to the Eastern States, and perhaps all, are also grown, such as the 
Isabella, Delaware, Iona, Israella, Diana, Scuppernong, Clinton, El- 
vira, Rebecca, Agawam, Catawba, and others. 

One other use to which many varieties of grapes are put is to dry 
them the same as other fruit for cooking. They are, of course, 
much inferior to raisins, but are a favorite dried fruit. They are com- 
monly prepared in this way for home use, and command a sale, but at 
a low price. Every farm, no matter to what particular branch of agri- 
culture it may be devoted, should have a small orchard and vineyard 
attached, as trees and vines grow luxuriantly and produce liberally in 
the kindly soil and clime of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, and 
they repay many times the value of labor necessary to be expended 
upon them. 

Raisin Making. 

Raisin making has already become a remunerative business in the 
Southern San Joaquin Valley, and is being developed quite rapidly. 
The climate is peculiarly suited to this industry. There is, in the 
southern part of the valley and adjacent foothills, a large area suitable 
for raisin growing. The vines of Southern California yield larger crops 
than those of Malaga, and our best raisins rank well in quality in the 
markets of the Eastern States. The United States imports yearly not 
less than 2,000,000 boxes of raisins, whereas the quantity at present 
exported from California is about 125,000 boxes. This year, 1885, the 
quantity promises to be much greater. 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 31 

The grapes usually grown for raisins are the seedless Sultana and 
Muscat of Alexandria — the latter is also known as the Muscatel — Uva 
Salamanca, Muscatel Romano, Raisin de Malaga, and others. For 
currants, the White Corinth variety does well. The vines are usually 
planted ten feet apart both ways, and in many cases at distances of ten 
feet in rows twelve feet apart. 

Gathering begins about the middle of September. The average profit 
per acre in California is said to be $100, clear of every expense; 
$250 per acre has been realized in isolated cases, where exceptional ad- 
vantages were enjoyed. The following estimates of a prominent 
grower will be of interest : 

1 ' The yield from each vine three years old will be 20 pounds ; vines 
four years old, 30 pounds each. With 435 vines to the acre, this 
gives a total yield of 13,050 pounds from young vines, or nearly 7 tons. 
It is calculated that three tons of grapes will make one of raisins ; and 
allowing for loss in every way, there would be two tons of raisins per 
acre. The total cost of producing raisins, counting expense of packing 
in twenty-pound boxes, is about $ 100 per ton. This includes cost of 
cultivating, pruning, picking, curing, packing, boxes, trays, sweat box- 
es, building, implements, etc. The price at which raisins sell is usually 
$1.50 to $2 per twenty-pound box. A yield of two tons per acre 
would give 200 boxes, valued at $300 to $400. Deduct from this $200, 
the cost of growing the grapes and preparing the raisins, and there is a 
balance of $100 to $200. Take from this last named sum the cost of 
hauling, freight, commission, etc., a large profit is still left. The 
estimate is based on the ordinary quality of raisins. Fancy raisins 
may always be disposed of readily to advantage." 

The process of raisin making has been well described as follows by 
a prominent raisin grower in Fresno County : 

1 ' The sun-laved shores of the Mediterranean offer to the vine no finer 
soil and climate than the warm plains of California. The abundant 
water supply from the snow-filled canons of the mighty Sierras gives 
health to the vine and size to the berries, while the long summer heat 
fills the grape with all lusciousness. When the early September days 
pour a torrid heat upon the plains, the rich clusters put on a golden 
tint, the royal amber of full ripeness. Sun and water and warmth 
can do no more ; the vintage time has come. To make sweet raisins, 
filled with jelly, and of a fine brown color, it is important that the 
grapes shall show this yellow color. Picking early, so as to be first in 
the market, does not mean good raisins. The grapes, when thus 
ripened, are carefully cut from the vine and laid upon small platforms 
made of smooth sugar pine, and raised from the ground by inch cleats. 
These platforms are three feet long and two feet wide, and are capable 



32 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

of holding from twenty to twenty-five pounds of green grapes. They 
are then placed on the open spaces between the rows of vines, and left 
for the action of the sun and air. In picking the grapes, care should 
be taken not to handle the bunches so as to rub off the delicate bloom. 
In nine days after picking, the raisins are sufficiently dry on the upper 
side to admit of turning over. This is done by placing an empty plat- 
form upon a filled one, and reversing quickly. If skillfully done, no 
fruit will be thrown off. In five or six days after turning, the raisins 
are sufficiently cured to be removed from the platforms. This is the 
only really delicate part of the whole business, requiring much judg- 
ment ; the more care, the better raisins. If the raisins have part of 
their juices, still liquid, unconverted into jelly, so that a drop can be 
squeezed out by pressing the raisin between the thumb and finger, 
they are unfit to be put into the ' sweat box,' as they will eventually 
mould or sour after packing; and if too much dried, the consumer will 
never know the deliciousness of properly cured raisins ; therefore, a 
careful inspection of each tray must be made, and imperfectly dried 
raisins removed ; after which all dust and dirt must be vigorously fan- 
ned from the tray. They are now carefully slipped from the tray into 
large boxes called 'sweat boxes,' which are three feet long, two feet 
wide, and one foot deep. After a layer (consisting of the contents of 
three or four platforms) has been placed in the box, a large sheet of 
Manila paper is laid upon them, then another layer of raisins and paper 
alternately until the box is filled. The boxes are now taken from the 
vineyard to some cool building, and allowed to stand for two weeks 
to a month. The moisture passes into the stems, making them pliable, 
and an equilibrium is established through all the raisins in the box. 
At the end of the proper curing time the raisins pass into the hands of 
the packers. These pack from the layers on the Manila paper into 
galvanized iron trays, fitting comfortably into the boxes which go to 
market. These trays have false wooden bottoms, and are all balanced 
on the scales before packing. All imperfect raisins and superabundant 
stems are cut out from the bunches, which are then neatly placed in 
the trays until they contain five pounds of fruit. They are then pressed 
in a lever-press. The fancy paper wrapper is now placed upon the 
iron tray, a steel plate put over that, and all reversed over the box in 
which they are to be packed ; the slide is removed, when the compact 
five-pound layer, with its paper wrapper, falls into the box; the paper 
is folded over, and the box is ready for its successive layers. The 
standard California box holds four layers, or twenty pounds. When 
all the layers are in the box, a fancy label is placed upon the top, the 
cover nailed on, and the box stenciled with the owner's name. This 
constitutes a box of table raisins. All small, loose raisins are packed 




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THE SOUTHERN BAM JOAQUIN GALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 33 

■ oking raisins/ according to the option of the packer. There 
seems to be no good reason why California shall not produce raisins 
•qua! to old Spain, when we learn that the best results follow the great- 
re in details. We must not forget that Spain has had centuries 
of experience, -which has been transmitted from generation to genera- 
tion ; while we are novices in the business, with all things to learn. :> 

Wine-Making. 

The viticultural interests are becoming quite important in Fresno 
County, but up to the present time little wine has been manufactured 
in this County by an} 7 except those owning large vineyards, although 
elsewhere in the State a large aggregate quantity is manufactured on a 
small scale. There are a number of large vineyards in Fresno County 
ed mainly to growing wine grapes. The Barton vineyard con- 
tains 560 acres ; the Kohler, West and Minturn vineyard, in the north- 
ern part of Fresno County near Merced, 630 acres ; the Butler vine- 
yard, 415 acres (380 acres in raisin grapes); Eisen's, 400 acres ; Fresno 
Vineyard Company, 400 acres ; Malter's vineyard, 360 acres ; Eggers', 
350 acres (160 acre3 belonging to other parties also handled) ; Tay's 
vineyard, 160 acres ; Snow Yiew vineyard, 160 acres ; Margherita 
vineyard, 100 acres. 

Several varieties are grown for wine-making. The claret grapes of 
Southern Europe do well. The vines are usually planted eight feet 
apart, the size of the grape not being a matter of so much importance 
as in raisin making. Some vines bear the second and the third year, a 
yield of four tons of grapes (the Zinfandel with the Trousseau, are 
most commonly gr„wn), maybe expected per acre ; at five years, seven 
to eight tons may be expected. The average price paid for grapes at 
the wineries is $12 to $18 per ton ; but prices have ranged as low as 
$8 and as high as $35. The varieties mostly grown for red claret wines 
are Trousseau, Carignan, Grenache, Mataro, Petit Cabernet, Chiraz 
Menuir, Zinfandel, Black Burgundy, Chauche Noir, Pied de Perdrix, 
Gamay Tinta, Lenoir, Grosser Blauer, Blauer Portuguieser, Tannat 
and some others ; for white wines, Folle Blanche, Colombar, Wests 
Prolific, Feher Zagos, Sultana, Golden Chasselas, Marsanne, Chauche 
Gris, Long Green, Chasselas de Foy, Moselle Riesling. Some of the 
above are also among the varieties preferred for brandy. For light 
white wines, Berger, Sauvignon, Gray Duchesse, and Semillon are gen- 
erally preferred ; for sherry wines, Palomino, Temprano, Doradello, 
Verdelho, and Pedro Ximenes. 

Wine grapes are allowed to bear more heavily than raisin grapes, and 
some varieties yield enormously. The Seedless Sultana frequently 




- - « « «, „ j „ 27 28 29 ^ 3--- — -™-^^^^.^-- 



34 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY.. CALIFORNIA. 

produces twelve tons to the acre, when in full bearing ; the Berger ha3 
been known, under most favorable circumstances, to yield sixteen tons 
to the acre. Many other varieties than those named are grown, the 
juice of some kinds being used mainly for blending with others. 

Good clarets, ports, and sherry, sweet and dry, are made, and the 
demand for these grows constantly. The supply also increases materi- 
ally each year. The wine product of Fresno County alone for 1884 
was abont 1,000,000 gallons. In Tulare and Kern Counties the 
larger vineyards are young, and the total wine product for that year 
small. Most of the smaller vineyards are planted to raisin grapes, and 
it is probable that others, in setting out small areas, will select the vari- 
eties most suitable for raisins. 

Brandy. — The Fresno distilleries have produced very fair brandy, 
It is generally calculated that fourteen pounds of grapes will make a gal- 
lon of wine, and that five gallons of wine will make a gallon of brandy. 
Brandy is usually valued at 70 cents per gallon without the internal 
revenue tax, or $1.60 per gallon with the tax paid. 

Berries. 

The strawberry and blackberry seem specially suited to the San Joa- 
quin Valley. The fruit is large, well colored and finely flavored. They 
bear well, ripen early, and are a sure crop. 

Several varieties of blackberries are grown, and are among the first 
in the State to ripen. Wild blackberries grow in the lulls and along 
the streams in the valley, and ripen long in advance of the cultivated 
ones. They are of large size and superior flavor, and if planted in damp 
ground, as in their natural state, may be cultivated with profit. A white 
variety, indigenous to one of the northern counties, is also grown. The 
growing of blackberries is now engaged in on a more extended scale 
than formerly, and proves remunerative. A very good quality of 
wine is made from them, and the berry is sometimes dried. When 
sold as fresh fruit in the local markets, the returns are generally good. 

Raspberries have been tried repeatedly, but except in occasional 
vears, without favorable results. As a rule, the bushes bear only a 
small quantity of fruit, unless grown in an orchard, or other places 
where they are shaded from the sun, the climate being too warm for 
them. 

Gooseberries have not done as well as elsewhere, nor have currants, 
except in rare instances neither can they be counted on as sure crops. 
But both will do well, and so will raspberries, in a higher altitude in the 
Sierra. Barberries and other berries are met with occasionally, but 
only blackberries and strawberries are largely grown. 



THE 90DTHEKN sAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 35 

Citrus Fruits. 

No one in the San Joaquin Valley lias made a specialty of growing 
citrus fruits, and few have given them any attention. The more south- 
ern counties of the State are famous for their magnificent orange groves, 
and from what has been accomplished the belief is gaining ground that 
ere many years Los Angeles and San Bernardino will share their envied 
reputation with the counties of the Southern San Joaquin Valley. The 
orange has been grown successfully, although on a small scale, for 
many years in the thermal belt extending along the foothills of the 
southern Sierra and Coast Range, in which many kinds of fruits that 
will not stand the frosts of the open plain, or the cold of the high- 
er mountains, thrive and do well. The mean temperature within the 
limits of this belt is several degrees warmer than the atmosphere of the 
plain, and the extremes of heat and cold are considerably less in range* 

At Fort Tejon, in the mountains at the southern end of the valley, 
at an altitude of 1600 feet, oranges of a superior quality have been 
grown for a number of years, and the supply is sufficient for the mar- 
ket in the ancient town of Bakersfield, in Kern County. They are also 
grown elsewhere in the same mountains, and in the thermal belt of the 
Sierra in Tulare, Fresno and Kern Counties ; among other places, at 
Mountain View, Pleasant Valley, Lewis Creek and Yokohl, Stokes and 
Drum Valleys; also at Piano, in Tulare County, near the edge of the 
foothills, and at Centerville, similarly situated in Fresno County. The 
largest orange orchards in tins part of the State are at the last named 
place, and the quality of the fruit is excellent. Orangesgrown at Piano 
were awarded a prize at the Citrus Fair, at Riverside, San Bernardino 
County, in 1883. They have borne well in many places on the plains, 
but usually where they are shielded and shaded from the morning sun 
by high trees or buildings. A too sudden thawing of the frost on cold 
mornings invariably damages the trees. A few might be grown about 
every house in protected spots. There are fifty trees in Eisen's vine- 
yard, in Fresno County, seven years old. Grafted trees have been killed 
on the plain by frost, when seedlings growing beside them were not 
affected. At Stokes Valley are a number of trees, four-year-old buds 
on six-year-old roots, that have never been injured by frost. They bore 
a few oranges the third year after they were set out, and in 1884 the 
fourth year had a fair crop. The warm belt in the foothills in which it 
is possible to grow orange3 extends as far north as Shasta, in Shasta 
County. In Merced County, and at Knights Ferry in Stanislaus 
County, they are grown also. There is no doubt that in all the warmer 
nooks of this belt in the Sierra, in Fresno, Tulare, and Kern Counties, 
oranges can be grown successfully and profitably. 



36 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

The lemon, a tenderer fruit than the orange, does well in many 
places in the foothills without injury from the weather. They have 
been tried in all three of the counties named. Experiments with this 
fruit have been limited in this part of the State. 

The lime, which is more tender even than the lemon, is also found 
to do well in places, and the territory to which it is adapted could un- 
questionably be extended by further attempts at cultivating it. 
Where the lime will grow there is no doubt that the orange and lemon 
will succeed, so far as climatic influences are concerned. Limes grown 
in Stokes Valley were affected slightly by frost one winter when young , 
but they were transplanted to a gently-sloping hillside at an altitude 
of about sixty feet above their original location, where frost was not 
noticeable, and have not been injured since. 



Other Fruits. 

Several other fruits less known and less grown than those mentioned 
are cultivated with greater or less success. Pomegranates grow well 
in the foothills of both ranges of mountains and also in the valley, but 
are most thrifty where the temperature does not fall very low in winter. 
Several varieties are grown, but probably the only ones from which 
any profit may be derived are the Paper-shell and the New Sweet, both 
recent importations — one from Spain, the other from Mexico. There 
is only a limited demand for them, but the best varieties will sell. 

Olives which were formerly thought to be unadapted to the South- 
ern San Joaquin Valley do well. The trees grow well in all parts 
of the valley in suitable locations. In the northern part of Fresno 
County are seven acres of olive trees fifteen years old, that have never 
failed to produce a good crop since they came into bearing. The fruit 
is pronounced excellent. 

The loquat is grown in the valley, but does not bear so well as in the 
warm foothill belt. They are common in the southern part of the 
State, but there is no demand for them. 

Mulberries do well. 

Among many other fruits grown to a limited extent are the crab-ap- 
ple, quince, guava, jujube, date-palm, banana, citron, etc. ; the last 
two named cannot be called a success, however. Another fruit recently 
introduced, which promises to be a valuable one, is the melon pear, a 
tropical fruit native of the Himalaya Mountains. It ripens in three 
months from the time of planting, is nearly as large as a goose egg, 
yellowish in color, with meat firm, juicy, and delicious. One great con- 
sideration in its favor is that it can be shipped to any part of the con- 
tinent without injury, being a good carrier. 



THE SOUTHERN' SAX JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 37 

Nut-Bearing Trees. 

California lias few indigenous nut fruits. With the exception of 
the chincapin, pine nut and hazel, there are none. But those intro- 
duced from the Eastern States and foreign countries grow to perfection 
here. The almond is tirst in importance, although it does not produce 
a good crop every year, and failure has been the reward of several who 
have attempted its cultivation in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. To 
grow almonds successfully it is necessary to know what soil and treat- 
ment they require, and this once learned there is no reason why their 
cultivation should not prove profitable. Those on dry, warm land, or 
in the hills, yield large crops and seldom miss. There are a number of 
large almond orchards in the valley, and the acreage is increased 
materially each year, particularly in Tulare County. There are 
numerous small orchards in each of the three counties of the Southern 
San Joaquin Valley, and the almond does well when properly cultivat- 
ed in all of them. The bitter almond produces well but is not pro- 
fitable. When five or six years old, almond trees yield 65 to 100 lbs. 
of cured nuts to the tree. 

The walnut does well, but great care should be exercised in pruning 
the trees not to check the spread of the branches, for they will not 
thrive if the trunk is exposed to the mid-summer sun. The California 
black walnut, under favorable conditions, grows a luxuriant foliage 
and bears a large crop. Several different varieties of English and 
Persian walnuts are grown successfully. The w r alnut crop of Southerr 
California is already considerable, and many thousand trees have 
been planted in recent years. 

Chestnuts are grown in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. They 
are cultivated only to a limited extent as yet, but when of proper age 
the trees bear well. The French and Italian chestnuts are most grown, 
but other varieties are to be found. 

Among other kinds of nuts grown are butternuts,- medlars, 'beech- 
nuts, hickory-nuts, pecans, and filberts. 

Nurseries. 

Nurserymen of the Southern San Joaquin Valley supply trees prop- 
agated from the seed in the soil and climate peculiar to this section, 
and free from injurious insects. Having made this business a study 
through a long series of years, they are able to impart much valuable 
{information and advice. Nothing is second in importance to the 
securing of healthy and pest-free trees. At present those in the nurse- 
ries of the three counties are such. Several hundred varieties of trees 



38 THE SOUTHERN SAX JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

may be selected from the leading nurseries, and all of the varieties best 
suited to the natural conditions of the valley are obtainable. 



Garden Vegetables. 

Garden vegetables of nearly every description grow to perfection : 
potatoes, beans, peas, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, celery, 
asparagus, turnips, carrots, parsnips, radishes, beets, lettuce, spinach, 
artichokes, egg-plant, rhubarb, squash, pumpkins, watermelon, musk- 
melon, cantelopes, cucumbers, Chile peppers, ground citron, pom- 
egranates, etc. Some of the vegetables named, such as squashes, pump- 
kins, turnips, carrots, etc. , are grown largely for other purposes than 
supplying the table, being cultivated for feeding to cattle during the 
winter. Many other vegetables are grown, but these mentioned are 
the most common and the best known. Most of these grow well in 
soil containing a high percentage of soluble salts. The climate is 
favorable for their growth, and in sheltered localities tomato vines 
continue to grow until two or three years old. 

Potatoes. 

The potato crop has become important in certain parts of the plain. 
For a number of years Syme's Valley, in the Kern County foothills, 
enjoyed the reputation of producing excellent potatoes, and it was 
thought that none equal to them could be produced in the valley. In 
the light, rich soil of the valley, however, they do well and yield large 
crops. In the region known as the Swamp, east of Visalia in Tulare 
County, potatoes form one of the principal agricultural products, but 
they are grown in all parts of the valley. 

Sweet potatoes and yams are also grown, and sometimes attain 
immense size, occasionally weighing fifteen or twenty pounds each. 



Hops. 

The cultivation of hops has not been entered into so largely in the 
Southern San Joaquin Valley as in the northern part of the State, 
only a few vines being grown , usually, to furnish hops for home use. 
One field in Kern County, however, comprises about thirty acres. The 
hop exports of the Pacific Coast are estimated at 40,000 bales annually. 
A very small proportion of this comes from the Southern San Joaquin 
Valley. The climate, however, is well suited. The expense attend- 
ing the first year's cultivation is always greatest and the income least. 
The first year the ground must be carefully prepared; the roots cost 



THE SOUTHERN" SAX JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 39 

about one cent apiece; sixteen hundred are generally planted to the 
acre. Poles twelve to twenty feet long are set and the vines trained 
to follow. In some places two to four poles ten to sixteen feet long 
are set with each hill. It is not necessary to repeat this expense for 
several years. 

Hops may be dried in the sun, but are better when prepared in 
kilns. Those grown in a rainless climate are stronger than those sub- 
ject to occasional wettings from summer showers. 

Sugar Cane. 

Sugar cane has been grown in Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties to 
a limited extent, but the making of sugar from it is a yet to be tried 
experiment. 

Sorghum. 

Closely allied to the sugar cane is sorghum, with this advantage in 
its favor, that it is better adapted to the climate of the San Joaquin 
Valley. It has long been grown for fodder for cattle, and the juice 
has been manufactured into a good quality of syrup. Several persons 
have engaged in the manufacture of molasses, the yield being about 
275 gallons per acre. As sorghum cane grows luxuriantly in every part 
of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, its cultivation for the purpose of 
sugar-making may yet be profitable. 

Sugar Beets. 

The sugar beet grows splendidly in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. 
The manufacture of sugar from beets is carried on to some extent in 
California. Alkalescent soils are well adapted to the growth of the 
beet, but when planted in land that is excessively alkaline the juice 
may be somewhat rebellious when worked by the customary processes. 
But there are thousands of acres in the valley where the sugar beet 
will grow to perfection without having to encounter this difficulty, if 
it does really exist. As much as fifteen to twenty tons to the acre 
may be grown on good lands, of an exceptionally fine quality for 
making sugar. The report of the College of Agriculture of the 
University of California for 1879 says : 

"It would seem that in California, if anywhere, the beet sugar in- 
dustry may look forward to a prosperous future. In California 
the beet sugar manufacture has proved remunerative wherever con- 
ducted under proper management, and good natural conditions." 



40 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

Cotton. 

Cotton has been grown in many portions of the interior of Califor- 
nia, through a long term of years, with greater or less success. It has 
been tried in all the counties of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, and 
at present on a more extensive scale in Kern County than ever before 
attempted on the Pacific Coast. There is much to lead to the belief 
that it will eventually figure as one of the leading crops of the State. 
The climate and soil of the interior are suitable, and in some respects 
possess advantages that are not to be had in the South. The yield 
has generally been good, but, owing to the difficulty of securing labor 
for picking, the cost of production has been great; and, naturally, the 
cost is always greatest during the first years. Several fields, varying 
in size from fifty to three hundred acres, have been cultivated in the 
San Joaquin Valley. In some cases the quality of the cotton pro- 
duced was pronounced "good," and in others "middling." It is 
necessary to irrigate cotton, but the mininum amount of water is 
used. The plants get one good irrigation when young, but receive no 
more afterwards, unless they show symptons of wilting, when the 
ground is wet once more. Picking begins about the middle of Sep- 
tember. The average yield is one bale of 400 lbs. to the acre. One 
important advantage this crop possesses is, that it will grow well 
on alkaline lands on which cereal and other crops do not thrive. 

Rice. 

Rice has been experimented with in all of the counties of the 
Southern San Joaquin Valley, and the yield and quality were both 
excellent. Where water is plentiful and convenient for flooding it 
can be grown successfully, but requires a great deal of water, as the 
roots must be constantly submerged while the plant is growing. 

Tobacco. 

Tobacco has been grown in Kern County and elsewhere in the valley 
with good results. No extensive effort in its cultivation has yet been 
made, and little can be said, except that a very limited expert 
ence with it was encouraging. A species of wild tobacco grows on 
the table lands at the base of the Sierra, along the southern part of 
the valley, and the same ground would probably grow other and better 
varieties. 

Sericulture. 

There is no section of the Union that has a climate better adapted to 
the growth of the mulberry, or for the propagation of the delicate silk 



THE SOUTHERN SAX JOAQUIN" VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 41 

worm, than California, where it is gradually becoming recognized a3 
an industry of importance ; and no portion of California possesses greater 
natural advantages for it than the Southern San Joaquin Valley. Cali- 
fornia silk has taken several prizes at expositions : in Paris in 1S68, 
Vienna, 1873, at the American Institute, New York, 1873, the Centen- 
nial at Philadephia, 1870, and at various State and local exhibitions. 
Several persons in this State are interested in the matter, and are 
working earnestly to encourage the industry. The yield of silk to the 
acre is large, and so far as that particular item is concerned the result 
has been most encouraging, notwithstanding the fact that silk culture 
is still in its infancy. The work is light, suitable for women and 
children. 

Licorice Root. 

Licorice root is grown in Tulare and Kern counties, and the results 
are all that could be desired. The area will be gradually extended, 
but the total area planted with it is small. 

The Castor Bean 
Grows to immense size in the kindly soil of the warm interior. 

The Peanut 

Grows to- perfection in the sandy valley lands, and produces- large 
crops. 

Other Products. 

Several other products have been experimented with on a small 
scale, the results of which are difficult to ascertain accurately. 
Among those which do well are flax, hemp, jute, and ramie among 
textile crops for which there is always a demand. Ramie does well, 
but proper machinery for working it advantageously and economically 
is lacking to give its cultivation greater impetus. 

Arboriculture. 

The cultivation of forest trees for fuel and timber, particularly hard 
wood, in which California forests are deficient, is being encouraged 
in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. In portions of the valley sec- 
tions of Tulare County, and to a less extent in Fresno and Kern, 
forests and narrow belts of oak, cottonwood and willow at present 
furnish a plentiful supply of wood for fuel. But the quantity is les- 
sened each year. The greater part of the valley is destitute of timber, 



42 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

and there will be a scarcity ere many years, unless supplied by arti- 
ficial means. Timber for building purposes will be supplied, so long 
as wood is used for that purpose, from the forests of the Sierra, and 
olher sources more remote, from which it is now obtained. 

The climate and soil are favorable to the rapid growth of trees, and 
the expense of propagation and cultivation is comparatively small ; 
less labor and care being required than for orchard trees, or any oth- 
^r crop that may be grown. The several varieties of poplar and wil- 
low, and the native cottonwood, grow rapidly on the most sandy lands 
in four or five years time, furnishing a large amount of fuel per acre. 
Many species of the eucalyptus, or Australian gum-tree, remarkable 
for rapid growth, are excellent for fuel, posts, railroad ties, etc. , and 
one species, the jarrah, is a hard wood tree, and is considered the 
most valuable of the eucalypti. 

Several varieties of Eastern and foreign oak have been planted, and 
do well, although still young. Many other kinds of hard wood trees, 
introduced grow well. 

The mulberry, several species of walnut, and other trees of this class 
are grown. The soft timber trees of the mountains are planted in the 
valley for ornament, and grow to perfection. 

The trees most generally planted are the eucalypti, which grow in 
ten or twelve years to fifty or sixty feet high, and two feet in diame- 
ter. About 680 are planted to the acre. In a very short time, the 
net income from a few acres of these trees is greater than that to be 
derived from almost any crop, grown in the same area, on the farm. 
The cinchona is thought to be well adapted to the warmer regions of 
the Sierra foothills, but has only been tried in small numbers in a 
few instances. The hardiest species is the cinchona pitayensis. 

Shade and Ornamental Trees, Flowering Shrubs and Plants. 

In a clime where lawns are green and flowers in bloom at every season, 
where hundreds of varieties of attractive indigenous and exotic plants 
and trees thrive through the mild winter, there is every inducement 
offered to beautify the home and its surroundings. Dainty flow- 
ers, so tenderly cared for in hot-houses during the cold Eastern win- 
ters, grow to perfection here in the open air ; and many of the most 
beautiful introduced from the sub-tropical regions and mildest portions 
of the temperate zone, grow by the side of those well known in the 
Northern States. 

A few of the many trees grown to shade beautiful avenues, or to 
surround homes, where they are both ornamental and useful, are the 
French and New England elm, the acacia of Constantinople, Texas 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 43 

umbrella tree, umbrella locust, mulberry, poplar, Japanese Sophora, 
(similar to the locust). The common locust also grows well. The 
cottonwood is commonly grown, but not so much as formerly. The 
cork-bark elm is also common. 

Other ornamental trees grown are English oak, catalpa, weeping 
willow, Teodora cedar, arbor vitse, cedar of Lebanon, Monterey cypress, 
several varieties of pine, and the Sequoia Giganlea of the neighboring 
Sierra. Most of these are evergreens. Flowering trees or shrubs, 
such as the magnolia, oleander and rose tree, are common, and also 
many kinds of creepers from far and near, such as the jasmine, ivy, 
Cape myrtle, honeysuckle, rose, Madeira vine, Chinese creeper, passion 
flower, etc. The Japanese and white bamboo grow well. In pleasing 
contrast with the many trees and ornamental shrubs of the more 
northerly climes, are several varieties of palms and cacti, winch give a 
tropical tone to Southern California gardens even in mid- winter. 

Flowering shrubs and plants grow to perfection, roses particularly. 
In a single nursery in Fresno County are 450 varieties, introduced 
from all parts of the world. 

To name all of the commonest flowers in the 'gardens would be 
imp )ssibie ; but so great is the number, that any one may grow such as 
suits his or her fancy. 

Insect Fests and Diseases. 

While it is true that the Southern San Joaquin Valley is peculiarly 
adapted to fruit culture, and that a great number of fruits may be 
grown here successfully, the tree has many enemies. The orchards 
and vineyards of the valley enjoy a greater immunity from insect pests 
and fungoid growths than those of moister climates. 

The scalebug, one of the most destructive pests, has been discovered 
only in a few instances as yet, and in each case among trees brought 
from other counties, and has not spread so rapidly as in orchards 
grown in a more humid atmosphere. 

The orange red scale and black smut need give rise to no uneasiness 
c n the part of those engaged in the cultivation of citrus fruits, for 
infected trees imported from the moister and cooler coast climate soon 
become healthy, and exhibit no trace of either when grown in the 
warm valley and adjacent hills; and trees brought here with trunk and 
leaves blackened with smut soon lose it and become vigorous and 
green. 

The codlin moth is destructive to both trees and vines, and is found 
most in orchards improperly cared for. 

The almond has been badly affected with the red spider in many 



44 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

parts of the valley, trees in some instances being nearly covered with 
its web. Other insect pests are occasionally met with, but those named 
are the most common. 

The most deadly enemy of the vineyard, the phylloxera, is, happily, 
# not among the pests of the Southern San Joaquin Valley. But the 
vine has enemies enough, some of them very destructive. The grape- 
vine hopper is one of those most to be feared, and has done damage to 
the vines of Fresno and Tulare counties. 

Other enemies of the vine are the green locust, common grasshopper, 
grape worm or grape moth, and the yellow mite. 

Trees and vines are also subject to diseases, but the trees of the 
great valley are, for the most part, exempt. Some of these so-called 
diseases, however, are really caused by insects. The curl leaf is one 
disease common to the peach and kindred fruits, but is comparatively 
little known in this part of the State. Some years it barely makes its 
appearance at all, and in others, like the present 1 — 1884 — it is more 
common. Some kinds are more susceptible to curl leaf than others, 
and sometimes trees in one part of the valley are affected, while those 
in another part a. few miles distant are nearly or wholly free from it. 
Somatimes, again, when two varieties are budded on the same body, 
one will be affected and the other will not. 

The vines of the valley have thus far exhibited few diseases. They 
are occasionally affected with blight, and two diseases that have ap- 
peared are black-knot and cancer. Grapes sometimes become mildew- 
ed in times of excessive moisture, but this is of rare occurrence in the 
interior of California. 

Grain is liable to be troubled with rust in an excessively moist sea- 
son, but this occurs only once in many years, and then in a much less 
degree than is common every year in the foggy, humid atmosphere of 
the sea coast. Wheat is liable to be affected with smut. 

Two or three small species of beetles have at times proved destruc- 
tive to gardens, stripping the plants of their leaves. Cut worms also 
trouble the vegetable gardens in some places, and once in a great while 
the common grasshopper and the army worm, or species allied to it, do 
considerable damage. 

Stock Raising. 

The Southern San Joaquin Valley possesses many natural advantages 
for stock-raising. This fact was early recognized, and for many years 
it was the leading and almost the only pursuit of the people here. 
The climatic features are favorable, wild feed abundant, and many 
things contribute to make the expense light. With the increase of 
population, the methods of raising stock have changed. Only a few 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 45 

large cattle ranches are now in existence in Fresno, Tulare, and Kern 
Counties. Two or three of these rank among the largest in the State. 
Stock, for the most part, is now raised in smaller numbers on alfalfa 
or ether tame grasses, and the breeds arc much improved. The wild 
cattle formerly inhabiting the plains, and which were not driven away- 
after the passage of the ''No Fence" law, have been crossed with the 
i est beef and milk stock. Durhams, Alderneys, Devons, Ayrshires, Jer- 
and other fine breeds more or less pure are raised in every part 
of the valley. The same improvement has been made in horses. The 
small, active mustang, which none but an expert horseman dared to 
mount, is now the exception and not the rule. Horses of Clydesdale 
and Norman blood and other large breeds are common. Others are 
bred for speed. In fact, the horses of the Southern San Joaquin Val- 
ley compare favorably with those of any part of the State. 

Breeding and raising horses for draught and speed is becoming an 
important branch of stock growing. Many farmers are engaged in this 
industry here. In Kern county one firm has 2,000 head of brood mares 
and colts, in addition to the large number of work and saddle horses used 
on the ranches. They are bred with care, receive close attention, and 
they will compare favorably with any stud of horses on the Pacific 
They are all pastured on alfalfa. Raising of mules is largely 
carried on in the valley, and the profits realized are good. 

Stock-raising will always be a leading industry in this region. The 
case with which all domestic animals are raised, and the large number 
that may be pastured on a small area, make this a favored section for 
that purpose. It has been variously estimated that one acre of alfalfa 
used as pasturage will keep from one to three head of cattle. In large 
ranches it is calculated to pasture one head to the acre ; but in smaller 
tracts, where both cattle and land receive better attention, the number 
is placed at three head of cattle of all ages. When two or three 
crops of hay are cut from the fields before they are used for pasture, it 
is calculated that the hay from one acre will keep two head of cattle a 
year. This is in addition to the pasturage for several months after the 
hay is cut. It will keep three times as many sheep as cattle, per 
acre. In the foothills of the Sierra it is calculated that seven to ten 
acres of natural pasturage are required for one cow. Alfalfa has one 
bad feature common to other clovers. It will cause cattle feeding on 
it in the spring, when it is growing rapidly, to bloat, but it does not 
affect those kept on it regularly so much as when pastured a portion 
of each day only. 

SAvme herds have also been improved. Sharp-snouted hogs, raised 
by the thousands a few years ago, and known as " tule splitters," are 
growing fewer each year, and are being rapidly replaced by or infused 



46 THE SOUTHERN SAX JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

with the blood of Poland-China, Berkshire, Essex and other favorite 
breeds. Large herds of swine, except in a few instances, are now to 
be found only in the foothills. Hogs in the valley are kept in smaller 
numbers, receive careful attention, and are of the better stock. Tulare 
County breeders have been awarded a number of premiums at the 
State and various district fairs, and it is doubtful if better specimens 
of fine breeds of hogs are to be found on any part of the Pacific Coast 

Hogs do well on alfalfa, and when they have full liberty of the 
field are not usually inclined to root. In fall, after harvest, they are 
turned into the grain fields ; but where these are not convenient, 
they are fed on grain for a short time before killing, to harden the 
flesh. 

Sheep raising receives less attention than formerly, owing to the 
once boundless ranges in the valley being restricted by the encroach- 
ment of grainfields. The flocks in the three counties of the southern 
part of the valley still number, in the aggregate, hundreds of thous- 
ands, although the larger number have been driven away. 

The improving of breeds was begun long before that of other stock, 
arid some in the valley are among the very best in the world. In a 
few places, flocks are kept in cultivated pastures ; but most of them, 
as formerly, graze on the natural feed wherever good range can be pro- 
cured — principally in the foothills or mountains. 

Angora goats are raised in small numbers. In the hills they do bet- 
ter than in the valley. 

As an example of what a field of alfalfa will do, the following from a 
reliable source is given : A field of twenty acres of alfalfa, in 1883, 
kept thirty-five to fifty head of horses, seven cows, forty goats and two 
hundred pigs through the season. It was also mowed twice, yielding 
one to one and a half tons of hay per acre. It was irrigated, but the 
following year kept about the same number of stock without irrigation. 
This is an exceptionally fertile piece of land. It is only given as an 
illustration of what may be done with alfalfa, when all things are most 
favorable, and not as an average case. 

A few persons are still engaged in raising stock on large ranches on 
natural feed. In Fresno County are two large fields of 20,000 and 
50,000 acrey respectively, owned by one firm, from which 2,500 head 
of cattle are annually shipped to San Francisco. The raising of cattle 
for market on small farms is becoming common. 



Dairying. 

Considering the vast scope of grazing land in the Southern San 
Joaquin Valley, the ease with which feed is grown, and the great num- 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 47 

her of cattle raised since a very early day, the absence of dairies is 
noticeable. It was formerly thought that butter and cheese could only 
be made in the warm valley successfully during the winter months, 
and that the-season was too short to warrant any outlay in preparing to 
manufacture dairy products for market. Even during the wet season, 
butter was actually imported into the valley for the use of the resident 
population. Attempts by experienced persons later, proved con- 
clusively that a good quality of butter could be made any month in 
the year. Most of the butter is made by farmers who keep only a few 
cows, but they seldom manufacture cheese. There are a few dairies in 
the valley, where both butter and cheese are made, and in Fresno is a 
cheese factory conducted on the co-operative plan. Butter is made 
almost exclusively in winter, when the price is highest, and as the warm 
season advances large dairies use the milk for cheese. 

It is reckoned in Fresno county that an acre of ground will support 
two cows, and that each cow will bring in $40 to $50 a year from milk 
sold to the factory, making an annual gross income of $80 to $100 per 
acre. Others have estimated that 200 lbs. of butter may be made an- 
nually from the milk of one cow, which, at the usual price of 20 cents 
per pound, amounts to $40 ; and that an acre of ground will keep three 
cows, making the amount per acre the sum of about $120. Many small 
pieces of land may be selected that will keep four cows to the acre, but 
it is a much greater duty than should be expected from average land. 

There are several small dairies in each of the counties of the South- 
ern San Joaquin Valley, but the larger ones are in Kern county. The 
largest in the valley is near Bakersfield, where about 300 cows are 
milked, and butter and cheese are made at all seasons of the year ; 
fresh milk is also sold in the neighboring town. The average quantity 
of butter made during a season from the milk of each cow is from 
180 to 250 lbs. , but the cows are not all of a good class, some of them 
being only slightly improved from the wild cattle that formerly grazed 
unherded on the plain. A fair average price is obtainable for cheese 
the year round. In a cool and well- ventilated room, with double 
brick walls, having a vacuum between, cheese, with proper care, can be 
kept cool during the warmest summer weather. At the dairy mention- 
ed the cows are pastured on green feed nine months of the year, and 
in the winter are fed beets, pumpkins, etc. , in addition. 

For the use of dairy cattle, different kinds of fodder and forage grass- 
es are grown. Australian rye-grass does well, and cattle are fond of it. 
Arabian millet grows, and if confined to it, cattle thrive ; but if they 
have access to other feed do not prefer it, except when the shoots are 
young and tender. Different varieties of clover are grown. Timothy 
does well in moist lands. Bermuda grass makes a rapid growth. Chi- 



48 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

nese sugar-cane, large Chinese millet, Minnesota early amber-cane, sor- 
ghum, imphee, Egyptian corn, or doura broom corn, etc., are grown 
for fodder. There is also another valuable plant for feed, although 
little known — the Angola Panic — which grows well and is relished by 
stock, but should be planted on ground intended for a permanent pas- 
ture, as it is extremely difficult to eradicate after once gaining a foot- 
hold. Arabian millet, or Johnson grass, should also be sown with 
the same precaution. 

The Apiary. 

It can be said without fear of contradiction that no country is better 
suited to the apiarist than Southern California. The total honey pro- 
duct of the State is estimated at 5,000,000 lbs. per annum, a great 
portion of which is exported. In a climate where flowers are in bloom 
at every season, and where the winters are mild, bees are storing 
honey nearly the year round. Bee culture is engaged in on 
an extensive scale. The bloom of the alfalfa affords excellent bee 
pasturage; and the orchards, the cultivated gardens, and the wild 
flowers on the thousands of acres of untouched plain, hill and moun- 
tain land, make the expense of bee farming trifling, and the income 
lars;e. 

The Foothill Region. 

The foothill region contiguous to the great valley, which has been 
frequently referred to, deserves more extended notice. This belt 
is of varying width, extending along the Sierra Nevada moun- 
tains. In the mild climate of the Southern San Joaquin plain, 
this belt of country is most valuable for the growth of citrus and other 
semi-tropical fruits. It is also particularly adapted to early fruits 
of all kinds. It has already been stated that fruit ripens much 
sooner in the orchards of the Fresno and Tulare county foothills than 
on the plains. The same is true of Kern county. Experience demon- 
strates that in the valley at the mouth of Kern River canon, twelve 
miles from the Southern Pacific Railroad at Sumner, frosts begin one 
month later than in the valley, and cease a month earlier in the spring ; 
and during the coldest period are less severe than on the plain. 
Peaches in the foothills have ripened a month earlier than on Kern 
Island; all kinds of stone fruits mature early, while other kinds that 
do not bear well or regularly in the valley grow to perfection here. 

An isothermal line drawn through the axis of this belt would traverse 
the lower and more easily cultivated portion of the foothills, and 
extend further upward and inland at the southern end of the valley, 
until the abrupt mountain wall where Kern River canon bisects 



THE .SOUTHERN SAX JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 4!) 

the range is reached, where it would approach nearer to the valley 
than further north, owing to the topography of the mountains and not 
to other conditions influencing climate. Above the thermal belt, 
extending through the region of black oak to and into the pine and 
redwood forests, is an extensive area adapted to the production of a 
great variety of crops, and particularly to those fruits that require a 
cooler climate than that of the lower foothills and plain. The soil is 
rich, but the greater part of the hill land is covered with a dense growth 
oi chemise, manzanita, chaparral and other brush, which must be 
cleared before the land can be cultivated. Small clearings have 
already been made, and the result has been to encourage others to 
enter or purchase land and do likewise. At no distant day this will 
be an important section of the agricultural and fruit-growing portion of 
the three counties named. It is a healthy region. The rainfall is greater 
than in the valley, and by conducting water from the mountain streams, 
by the system of piping employed in other parts of the State, a 
sufficient supply of water can be obtained to irrigate all the best cul- 
tivable land'; and by the conservation of water into reservoirs during 
the wet season, the small streams could be depended upon to furnish 
sufficient water for a large aggregate area not readily reached by the 
main streams. Above an altitude of 1,200 feet above the sea in 
Fresno, 1,500 feet in Tulare, and 2,000 feet in Kern county, there is 
sufficient rainfall to make irrigation unnecessary. 

In the region midway between the plain and the mountain proper, 
the hills are generally precipitous, and although small valleys are num- 
erous, there are few of any considerable area. In Tulare County, 
the largest is that through which flows Yokohl creek, a long, winding, 
level, fertile valley, well adapted to fruit growing, but at present 
devoted mainly to grazing sheep. 

Railroads. 

The Pacific system of the Southern Pacific Company, with tne ini- 
tial point at San Francisco, has one branch which passes southward 
through the middle of the Southern San Joaquin Valley, connecting 
with the Atlantic system of the same company, and the Atlantic and 
Pacific, and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. 

There are also two other important branches of the Pacific system 
of the Southern Pacific Company, one being the road generally known 
as the Central Pacific, which connects with the Union Pacific and the 
Denver and Rio Grande Railroads at Ogden. The other is commonly 
known as the California Northern, which extends northward from San 
Francisco, through the Sacramento Valley, and when completed will 
connect with the Northern Pacific Railroad. 



50 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

These roads, with their branches and connections, connect with 
;he branch which passes through the San Joaquin Valley, and give 
Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties ample railroad communication and 
facilities for transportation into the territories, old Mexico, and the 
Western, Southern, and Eastern States. 

In Tulare County, from Goshen, the Goshen division of the South- 
5rn Pacific Company passes westward to the foothills of the Coast 
range, and from the same place the Visalia Railroad leads to Visalia, 
eastward eight miles. 

The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad connects with the Southern 
Pacific at Mohave, in the south part of Kern County. 

Minerals. 

Although not generally included among the mining counties of CaL 
ifornia, Kern, Tulare and Fresno have for some years employed many 
persons in their mines. At one time the working of placer diggings 
was carried on to a considerable extent in Fresno and Kern counties, 
but there being no large deposits of auriferous gravel, they have for the 
most part been worked out, and at present, mining for gold is restricted , 
almost entirely, to the working of quartz leads. There are several 
towns and settlements in the mining regions of Kern county, in the 
heart of the Sierra range, and valuable mines are now worked in 
Fresno. There is also more or less prospecting and working of quartz 
ledges on a small scale in each of the three counties. 

Among other deposits found in the Sierra Nevada mountains, are 
silver, copper, lead, antimony, iron, plumbago, talc, limestone, soap- 
stone and gypsum ; also slate, granite, marble and other stone for build- 
ing purposes. Most of the minerals are found above an altitude of 2,000 
or 2,500 feet, and some of the mines are located among the rugged 
Danons of the higher ridges. In the Coast Range mountains, are found 
petroleum, coal, cinnabar, and marble; traces of gold have been discov- 
ered in a few localities. Petroleum is found, and an excellent quality' 
of kerosene is produced further south in the same range. At present 
this interest is not being developed in that section adjacent to the 
Southern San Joaquin Valley. The coal found is generally a very 
inferior grade of bituminous, but a seam is now being worked in 
Fresno county near Huron station, the western terminus of the 
Mussel Slough branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which is of 
a superior quality. The quicksilver mine of New Idria is also in Fres- 
no county. This is a valuable property, and is one of the largest con- 
tributors to California's annual production of quicksilver. In the Te- 
hachapi mountains, at the extreme southern end of the valley, a good 
quality of marble is quarried for the San Francisco market. 



THE SOUTHERN - SAX JOAQUIN' VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 51 

There are also many mineral and thermal springs in the Sierra 
Nevada and Coast Mountains, many of which possess excellent 
medicinal qualities. A number of soda springs exist on the different 
forks of Tule River and elsewhere in the Sierra Range, but a greater 
variety of mineral springs is found in the Coast Range. In the latter 
are several hot sulphur springs. In both ranges, especially in the 
southern portions, are springs inpregnated with sulphur, iron, soda, 
salts, potash, arsenic and other minerals, and one spring of almost 
pure salt water has been discovered in the Coast Range. 

Timber. 

A considerable portion of the valley has no timber of any kind. South 
from Kings River, the course of which is through portions of Fresno and 
Tulare Counties, there is a large body of oak timber. Still further south 
is a treeless plain several miles wide, and then succeeds the most heavily 
timbered portion of the valley proper. An extensive forest of white 
oaks reaches from near the foothills almost to the old shore line of Tu- 
lare Lake, the width from north to south varying from a narrow belt 
to ten or fifteen miles. Although of irregular form and interspersed 
with openings and sparsely timbered tracts, the aggregate area of this 
oak forest is about 200 square miles, or 128,000 acres. It is situated 
in the central part of the valley section of Tulare County. Many of 
these oaks are monsters ; one tree standing in the public road near 
the village of Farmersville measures about eleven feet in diameter. 
About Tule River there is a section of well timbered country ; but 
south of that stream, with the exception of a few oak trees in the 
valley, there is no timber of any kind except where the courses of Deer 
Creek, White River, Poso Creek and Kern River are marked by the 
narrow lines of trees and bushes along the banks. Besides oak 
there are sycamore, cotton wood, ash, and different varieties of willow, 
and along Kern River a considerable growth of alder. 

In the Coast Range there is scattering timber, consisting of a species 
of scrub oak, juniper, and other smaller trees suitable for fuel and 
rough fencing. On the higher ridges of the San Emidio Mountains 
are pine and fir. 

The principal timber forests, and in fact the only large ones, are in 
the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The lower hills of these mountains 
contain a scattering growth of white and live oaks, with other trees 
along the streams. At an altitude of about 2,500 to 3,000 feet, black 
oak and nut pine are found, and extend to an elevation of 4,000 feet or 
more. Above this line grow the yellow, white, sugar, and other vari- 
eties of pine, fir, cedar, and the famous large redwoods. The largest 



52 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

of this species yet discovered, and claimed to be the largest tree in the 
world, is in Tulare County, and measures forty-six feet in diameter. 
None of these trees are found south of Tulare County. Above the 
pine belt, which extends to an altitude of 7,000 to 8,000 feet, tamar- 
ack is encountered, and still higher, above these trees, a small variety 
of pine grows among the granite crags. In Fresno County the heavi- 
est forest is from ene to five miles wide and twenty miles long. A 
rich Flume and Trading Company has its mills in this county, and 
transports lumber from the mountains to the town of Madera on the 
Southern Pacific Railroad in a " Y " flume. In Tulare County there is 
much fine timber. In several of the larger bodies sawmills have been 
in operation many years. One large forest was recently entered by a 
newly constructed wagon road, and there is another on a branch of Ka- 
weah River, covering 100 square miles, that is yet untouched, being ex- 
ceedingly difficult of access. There is excellent timber for building 
purposes in the mountains as far south as Greenhorn Mountain in Kern 
County. The timber belt of the Sierra extends in an unbroken body 
from this point in Kern County to the northern limit of the range, but 
the "forests" here spoken of are bodies of timber of much denser 
growth than the average. The supply of fuel and lumber in these 
mountains is extensive and accessible. 



Government Lands. 

There are in the valley portion of Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties 
— including that lying adjacent to the foothills — still open to settle- 
ment, an aggregate area of about 250,000 acres. Much of this is 
desirable for farming purposes. There are several thousand acres of 
Government land, of excellent quality, favorably situated within the 
limit of the famous artesian belt, or where it can be irrigated by othei 
means. The major part of this vacant land is now used for grazing. 
Irrigation will some day supply the necessary amount of water to the 
dry plain lands, and enable the farmer to cultivate them profitably. 

There are large areas of Government land in the foothills of both 
ranges of mountains. Hundreds of good homes can be made here. 
Considerable of this land is valuable for wood, and is particularly 
valuable for general farming, fruit growing, and stock raising. 

Government land may be obtained under the homestead, preemp- 
tion, timber culture, desert land, and timber laws. 

Homestead Law. 

The word homestead, as now applied in the United States, signifies a 
tract of land given away by the Government as a free gift forever, on 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 53 

the single condition that the person accepting the gift shall live upon 
the land and cultivate it, and make it his home for rive years. Any 
citizen of the United States, who is the head of a family, or an unmar- 
ried person over the age of twenty-one years, is entitled to a homestead 
of 160 acres. Persons of foreign birth may avail themselves of the 
benefit of this law by declaring their intention to become citizens ; and 
this they can do immediately after their arrival in this country. 

A person wishing to enter a homestead must go to the United States 
Land Office of the district, or to the clerk of the county, in which the 
land he wants is located, and file his application and affidavit, in accord- 
ance with legal forms which will be furnished him by the Land Office. 
The Land Office fees are from £16 to £22, which must b'e paid at the 
time of filing the application. Within six months after filing an 
application at the Land Office the settler must commence living upon 
and improving the land, and thereafter for five years must make this 
tract his actual home. A soldier who served not less than ninety days 
in the army during the late rebellion is required to live on the land five 
years, less the time he served in the army. At the expiration of five 
years, or within two years thereafter, on making proof at the Land 
Office by two competent witnesses that he has complied with all the 
requirements of the law, and paying an additional fee of from $6 tc 
£12, he will receive from the Government a complete and absolute title 
to the land. 

If at any time after six months' residence the homestead settlei 
should desire to get a full title to his land, he can do so by makins 
proof of settlement and cultivation up to date, and paying the Govern- 
ment price of £1.25 or £2.50 per acre for the land, according to loca- 
tion — that is, within or without the boundary lines of railroad grants. 

Homesteads, until the issuing of the patents, are free, from taxation, 
and cannot be taken away or sold for debt, but are absolutely secured 
to the settler up to the time the requirements of the Homestead Law 
have been fulfilled. 

Pre-emption Law. 

Any person qualified to take a homestead is also entitled to 160 acres 
under the preemption law ( but not at the same time). Within ninety 
days after settlement on the land, he must file his application in the 
District Land Office where the land is located, which will cost £3. But 
he must commence settlement before making his application. At any 
time after six months' residence, and up to thirty months after filing his 
application, the settler may pay for the land at the rate of £1.25 or 
£2.50 an acre, according to location, and receive his patent from the 
United States. 



54 the southern san joaquin valley california. 

Timber Culture Law. 

Under the timber culture act an applicant is entitled to 160 acres on 
any section naturally devoid of timber ; the whole section must be 
devoid of timber. On one section, only one timber claim can be taken. 
It requires eight years to acquire a title. Actual residence is not 
required. The first year five acres must be broken. Second year, must 
cultivate this five and break five more. Third year, must plant the 
first five acres in trees, and cultivate the second five acres. Fourth 
year, plant the second five acres in trees, which make the ten acres. 
On the day of the final proof, 675 trees must be living and in a thrifty 
condition on each acre. The cost of filing an application is $14, and at 
the date of final proof $4 additional must be paid. 

Timber Law. 

Any person qualified to take a homestead may also purchase 160 acres 
of land, valued chiefly for its timber, and unfit for cultivation, for 
$2.50 an acre. Sixty days' notice must be given by the applicant, at 
his expense, in a newspaper published nearest the land desired to be 
purchased. After the expiration of sixty days, if there is no adverse 
claim, the applicant must pay for the land and receive his title thereto. 

Desert Land Law. 

Any person qualified to take a homestead may also acquire title 
to 640 acres of land which will not produce crops without irrigation, by 
paying $1.25 an acre. A cash payment of twenty- five cents an acre 
is required at the time of filing application at the Land Office. Within 
three years, water for irrigation must be supplied to the whole tract. 
On making proof that the requirements have been complied with, and 
paying the additional $1.00 an acre, the Government will issue, a 
patent for the land. 

Railroad Lands. 

To encourage the building of a railroad through Southern California, 
the United States Government .granted the Southern Pacific Railroad 
Company the odd numbered sections, i. e., each alternate section, for 
a distance of twenty miles on each side of the road. That Company 
has yet, unsold, between Fresno and Tejon Pass, 1,500,000 acres of 
land — good and bad — hill and valley. The valley land comprises about 
600,000 acres. 

The prices range in the valley from $2.50 to $16 an acre. The 
average price is less than $4 an acre. Much of the land in the foot- 
hills of the Sierra and in the Tehachapi mountains is suitable for graz- 
ing, and some of it for general farming. The poorest of this land is 
traded as low as 25 cents an acre. 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 56 

For tracts of less than eighty acres of railroad land, cash must 
generally be paid at time of purchase— exceptions are sometimes made 
to this rule. Eighty acres or larger tracts may be bought, by paying 
twenty per cent, at the time of purchase, and the remainder at any 
time before five years, with interest on same at seven per cent, per 
annum payable in advance. Special terms are secured in some 
instances. Land may also be leased. When rented for pasture, the 
company reserves the right to sell the same at any time. The com- 
pany issues land-seekers' tickets to those in search of land. The land 
seeker purchases and pays for his ticket, on starting out to hunt land, 
and if he buys land of the company, the amount paid for his ticket is 
deducted from the first payment of the purchase money. 

Other Lands. 

Besides the Government and Railroad lands there are numerous 
large and small tracts, belonging to private individuals and companies, 
suitable for any branch of agriculture. This land is to be had unim- 
proved or improved, in any of the three counties of Fresno, Tulare 
and Kern. In Fresno, land is obtainable in the colonies in small 
tracts with water rights. These small tracts are devoted mainly to the 
growing of fruit, although well adapted to general farming. In Tulare, 
the only colonies are near the town of Traver, where land may be 
bought or leased, and a permanent water right secured. Larger 
tracts are obtainable in the same vicinity. There are no colony settle- 
ments in Kern County. In all these counties are real estate agents, 
prepared to sell or lease land in any part of the valley. 

In Fresno, land is held by private individuals at $7 to $150 per acre; 
in Tulare, from $5 to $100 per acre; in Kern, from $3 to $50 per acre. 
The cheapest lands are unimproved, but well suited to agricultural pur- 
poses. The highest priced is partially improved. Lands on which full 
bearing orchards or vineyards are growing are to be had, but at higher 
prices than those named. A considerable part of the desirable farming 
and fruit land in Fresno and Tulare counties is held at $7.50 to $50 
per acre, unimproved. There is also a vast amount of cheap land in 
Kern County. 

One company controls the distribution of the greater part of the water 
of Kern river, and is perfecting a system for supplying it to all parts of 
the plain tributary to that river. 

Large holders throughout the valley are subdividing their lands into 
small tracts, for sale to settlers. 

The swamp and overflowed lands which belong to the State .-.re 
nearly all bought up. Where still untaken they may be purchased 
for $1 per acre. 



56 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA 

Effects of Irrigation. 

First may be noted the increase in the value of land consequent up- 
on the supply of water. Land in the Southern San Joaquin Valley 
remote from water supplies has in very few instances advanced materi- 
ally above government price ; whereas that lying contiguous to, or 
supplied with water, has advanced several hundred per cent, in value, 
having been converted from grazing to productive agricultural and fruit 
land. 

The effect of irrigation upon land, as regards its productiveness, is 
evidenced in many ways. Porous, sandy land irrigated from the 
mountain streams retains the- sediment deposited by the water, and be- 
comes permanently enriched thereby. Such land, which does not 
bake, may be irrigated by flooding with good results ; but when water 
is allowed to flow over it, it is liable to wash away more nutritive mat- 
ter than is deposited. In heavier land, if properly cultivated after be- 
ing judiciously irrigated, the coarser and harder particles become 
dissolved, and are left in better condition for assimilation by the plant or 
tree roots. The purer the water used, the smaller is the quantity of 
material restored to the land. For this reason it should be used with 
as little current as possible, else it will leave the soil less fertile than 
when it reaches it. 

Water should always be used cautiously, for too much is as harmful 
as too little. There is less danger to health in applying water when 
the weather is -cool than in summer. Natural creeks, or sloughs, or 
other depressions, should not be utilized for carrying water to the 
land to be irrigated : for, it being necessary to construct dams to raise 
the water above the banks, to permit of its being taken out into ditch- 
es on higher ground, a large body of water would be formed ; and such, 
where shallow, are liable to become breeding spots for malaria in the 
hot summer months. Canals are generally constructed on the highest 
land, where the natural slope of the plain keeps the water in mo- 
tion. It can then be taken through lateral ditches to the land that is 
to be supplied, and then allowed to drain into the natural depres- 
sions, and through them find a way to the streams communicating 
with the lake. This keeps the valley always healthy. This system is 
adopted in what is known as the "76" country, in Fresno and Tulare 
counties. Water supplied to low lands to such a degree as to make 
them swampy, will have a tendency to induce malarial fevers. One 
other effect of irrigating land for a number of years is to cause the 
substrata to become saturated with moisture, thereby raising the water 
in wells which furnish the supply for household purposes. Where 
wells are shallow, it is questionable if drinking the water is not injuri- 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 57 

cms. Good drinking water may be obtained by boring below the first 
or second impervious strata, and inserting iron easing to keep out the 
surface water. This is done where irrigation is commonly practiced. 

"Where the land does not slope sufficiently to prevent the water from 
standing in shallow pools and sluggish streams during the long, warm 
summer, there is considerable sickness. By a proper system of drain- 
age, and the use of pure water only for household purposes, which is 
readily obtainable, all parts of the Southern San Joaquin Valley are as 
healthful as other portions of the State. 

Colony Settlements. 

In Fresno county only, has the colony plan of settlement been car- 
ried to an) T great extent. At present there are two colonies in Tulare 
county, and one or two large tracts of land are for sale in lots of tew 
to forty acres. Twenty acres are sufficient for fruit growing, and forty 
acres is the largest tract that one man or family should attempt to cul- 
tivate, for it pays better to give careful attention to twenty or forty 
acres than to imperfectly work more. The first colony started in 
Fresno county was the Central, near the town of Fresno, on the west 
side of the railroad. The land on which it was located was a treeless, 
uninviting plain, and except in the wet season, verdureless. Now the 
elm. fig, cherry, and other trees give names to the avenues along 
which they are planted, and the tract presents a succession of flourish- 
ing orchards and vineyards, with scores of beautiful and comfortable 
homes surrounded by shrubbery, green lawns and flowers. 

Other colonies have since been started, and are in a more or less 
advanced state. The principal ones are the Washington, Nevada, 
Fresno, "Scandinavian, Easterby and American, which follow in the 
order named. There are others younger. Land is still to be had 
with permanent water rights, the price depending on the conditions. 

Towns. 

There are a number of towns in the Southern "San Joaquin Valley, 
but no large ones, although a number of them are growing rapidly. 
Fresno, the county seat of Fresno county, is situated on the Southern 
Pacific railroad, and is an important shipping point, being the center 
of an extensive fruit growing and farming region. The population is 
about 5,000, and is rapidly increasing. Other towns of Fresno county 
are Madera, Selma, Fowler, Malaga and Kingsburg on the railroad, 
Centerville and Wahtoke near the foothills of the Sierra, and Kingston 
and Wildflower west of the railroad. 



58 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

Visalia, the county seat of Tulare, has a population of about 3,000, 
and is connected with the Southern Pacific at the little station of Go- 
shen by a branch railroad, ten miles in length. At Visalia are the 
United States Land office of that district, the office of the Deputy Col- 
lector of Internal Revenue, and the Land Agent of the Railroad Com- 
pany. Tulare City, on the line of the railroad, ten miles south of Vi- 
salia, is the terminus of the Tulare division, and here are situated the 
machine shops, round-house, etc., of the Railroad Company, in which 
a large force of workmen are employed. The population is about 
1,500. Other towns of Tulare county are Hanford, Lemoore, and the 
station of Huron in the western part of the county, on the Mussel 
Slough branch of the Southern Pacific, which also connects with the 
main line at Goshen. Other railroad towns are Traver in the north- 
ern part of the county, and Tipton in the southern. The other towns 
are Porterville and Piano near the Sierra foothills, White River in the 
mountains, Farmersville near Visalia, and Grangeville in the western 
part of the county. 

Bakersfield is the county seat of Kern County, and has a population 
of 1,500. It is one and a half miles from Sumner, on the railroad. At 
the latter place, situated near the foot of the grade leading through 
Tehachapi Pass, are repair shops, roundhouse, etc. The other towns 
of Kern county are Glennville, Kernville, Havilah, Caliente and Mo- 
jave in the mountains, the last-named on the Southern Pacific, and 
Delano, a railroad town in the valley. In addition to those mention- 
ed, there are a number of villages and small railroad stations in each 
of the three ^counties. 

Schools. 

In public schools California is liberal, and they are the pride of the 
State. Except in sparsely settled districts, the schools are in session 
eight or ten months in each year. The entire revenue of the State 
School Fund and that derived from the School Tax direct, must be ap- 
plied exclusively to the support of the public primary and grammar 
schools. A certain amount is allowed each district annually, for the 
purchase of apparatus-, and books for a library, and can be devoted to 
no other purpose. The system of education is excellent, and the 
text-books are of the best. The salaries of teachers range from $40 to 
$125 per month, and each is required to have a certificate, to secure 
which a rigid examination must be undergone. Each county has a 
Superintendent of Schools and a Board of Education, consisting of the 
Superintendent and four other members. The counties are subdivid- 
ed into as many school districts as meet the requirements of the popu- 
lation, the officers for which are a Board of three Trustees, one of 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 59 

whom is elected annually to serve for a term orthree years. There is 
also a State Superintendent of Public Instruction and a State Board 
of Education. 

Besides the primary and grammar Schools, there is a State Normal 
School at San Jose, a branch Normal at Los Angeles, and a well-en- 
dowed State University at Berkeley, on the eastern side of San Fran- 
cisco Bay. Several of the towns of the Southern San Joaquin Valley 
have excellent schoolhouses, and several districts are enlarging those 
now in use, or building new ones, the increase of population requir- 
ing better accomodations. 

Growth of the Country. 

The population of the three counties of Fresno, Tulare, and Kern 
does not aggregate more than 45,000, while the area of valley land 
suitable for cultivation is 7,334 square miles. The State of New Jer- 
sey, with an almost equal area — 7, 815- square- miles— has a population of 
1,131,000 and Massachusetts with an area of 8,315 square miles, about 
equal to that of the Southern San Joaquin Valley and the most desir- 
able portion of the adjacent foothill land, has a population of 1,783,- 
000. The valley portion of these three counties, with an agricultural pop- 
ulation of five persons to every forty acres, would support 586,720-souls, 
making no allowance for those living in cities and towns. Add to this 
the great area of hill and mountain land which would support a large 
population, it will be readily seen that there is still room for growth. 
Any person taking up a residence in this portion of California, may 
do so with the assurance that every dollar invested in real estate 
is a profitable investment, and that, as a farming country, no section 
of the Pacific Coast presents more promising prospects. 

Making Homes, 

The poeple *who have come to the San Joaquin Valley in search of 
homes, represent every profession, trade and calling, and the causes 
inducing them to settle here have been as varied. Some have come in 
search of health, some to escape the rigorous winters of a colder clime, 
and others desiring to engage in some of the various departments of agri- 
culture or fruit-growing, to which this region is adapted, knowing with 
what ease it is possible to make homes where so many advantages are 
enjoyed. But, although Nature has done much for this favored section 
of California, it is necessary for the settler to do his share. Work, 
and hard work, is required to make a good home. One who is not 
afraid to exert himself will succeed ; for the fertility of soil, mildness 



60 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

and equableness of climate, and many other advantages, will assist 
those who help themselves, but will be of little advantage to tm.se who 
will not properly avail themselves of the opportunities presented. 

To purchase a colony lot, cultivate it the first year, build a comfort- 
able dwelling, plant an orchard or vineyard, and make other improve- 
ments, about $3,000 is required. « To a person who has this sum to in- 
vest, the venture will prove a paying one : for with such a start the 
first season, his place can soon be made to bring in a handsome in- 
come. On land that is not surrounded by thoroughly tilled tracts, like 
those in the older colonies, which may be paid for in installments, $800 
or $1,000 is sufficient to make a good start. But by far the larger por- 
tion of immigrants have had less money on arriving here. Such usu- 
ally secure Government land under the pre eruption or homestead 
laws, or purchase railroad, or other unimproved land, belonging to 
companies or individuals, paying for same in installments with in- 
terest. When settlers of this class are not employed in improving 
their own land, they often seek work from others, and are thus able 
to secure a good living until their own farms will support them. Many 
have arrived here almost without funds, and depended entirely up- 
on their earnings for support, and for securing the money to provide 
themselves with homes ; and numbers of the most prosperous farmers, 
stock-raisers and fruit-growers are those who came here poor. It 
is unwise to advise any one to immigrate to a new land with an empty 
pocket. Some will succeed, while others will not. But for people with 
moderate means, no portion of California is better than the Southern 
San Joaquin Valley. The extension of the stock and fruit interests 
— and no healthy growth could be more rapid than these— must en- 
hance the value of all unoccupied land in the valley and foothills suit- 
able for either. 

When fields are being plowed and seeded, laborers get from $1 to 
$1.50 and board per day. Employment may also be found for teams. 
During the harvest season, wages are $2 to $2. 50 per day, with board. 
At other seasons the work is varied, and the wages are ilsuaily $20 to 
$30 per month. Mechanics, of course, receive higher wages. Many 
who come as laborers have succeeded in a few years in getting a good 
start. In building a house in California, one has not to prepare for 
such cold weather as prevails during the winter months in the same 
latitude farther east, and the expense is comparatively small. For 
stock, the buildings are also cheap ; and, indeed, in many cases, stock 
has no shelter at all until prosperous times permit of the expen- 
diture. Living is also cheap in California ; less clothing is required 
and the-amount of fuel used less ; and there is little loss of time occa- 
sioned by the inclemencies of the weather. When the East is snow- 



THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. CI 

bound, the farmers of the San Joaquin Valley are in the fields with 
their teams ; in January, and frequently much earlier, the country is 
clothed in green, and ere the month of February is past, the wild 
flowers begin to appear above the green, and soon the whole plain be- 
comes a sea of color. Wood for fuel is also abundant and cheap. In 
places farthest removed from the source of supply, the price per cord 
for wood is sC. This is the highest price paid, and these figures are 
only reached in the towns situated on the open plain. 

Comparisons with the East. 

Where the differences in climate, physical surrroundings and capa- 
bilities are so great, as those existing between California and corres- 
ponding latitudes in the Eastern States, one may be pardoned for call- 
ing attention to a few of these. It may be stated, first, that there are 
no such thunder storms as those prevalent east of the Rocky 
Mountains. Except in the mountains of California, a whole year 
sometimes passes without a single thunder shower, and then they are 
as small side-shows compared with the heavy storms experienced in oth- 
er portions of the United States. There have probably not been more 
than half a dozen cases since the first settlement of the State, where 
damage was sustained by lightning. 

Tornadoes and cyclones are unknown, even in the mountain ranges, 
or in any part of the State. Blizzards are also strangers to California 
While they are entertaining the people of the North and East, the Cal- 
ifornia farmer is at work in the fields the day long, while his children 
may be seen picking wild flowers, or those cultivated in the gardens. 
Nor is the Calif ornian troubled with hot, sultry nights in summer ; the 
time between dusk and sunrise is invariably cool and pleasant. In the 
hottest days of summer the heat is less oppressive than in a more hu- 
mid atmosphere having a temperature several degrees lower. Owing 
to the excessive dryness of the air, perspiration evaporates rapidly, and 
thus keeps one cooler than in a moist atmosphere at the same tempera- 
ture. 

A matter of importance to farmers is the absence of heavy rains in 
the spring, and of showers in the summer, thus allowing the grain af- 
ter ripening to stand in the field for weeks and months unharvested. 
After harvest, grain may be piled in sacks in the field or along the rail- 
roads awaiting shipment, without fear of injury by rain. This allows 
the farmer more time in which to have his harvesting done, and to see 
to other matters that may require attention. The only season in 
many years when rains continued till late, was that of 1884, a rain 
lasting a whole day occurring as late as the middle of June. One or 



52 THE SOUTHERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. 

two light showers followed later. But tho season, although late, was 
an unusually prolific one. The Southern San Joaquin Valley has an 
average of 220 cloudless days in the year, and its climate is said by 
those who are familiar with both, to be superior to that of Southern 
Europe. 

But California is not without its drawbacks. Occasionally the 
southern part of the State is made to feel the evil effects of a dry 
year. But where water is obtainable for irrigation, the effect may in 
a great measure be counteracted, as has already been explained. Sec- 
tions not suppplied with water must suffer. Occasionally, also, a cold, 
dry north wind occurs for a few days in the spring, absorbing the 
moisture from the soil and injuring the cereal crops. If it comes 
when the grain is " in the dough," and not well filled, and the ground 
is not sufhciently moist, and continues for a period of several days, it 
will shrink the grain so much as to greatly impair the quality and 
materially lessen the yield. If it comes sooner or later, when the 
grain is " in the milk," or when the kernel is formed and hardening, a 
shower will repair the damage. If this wind comes when the grain is 
well hardened, the injury is slight. Fortunately, serious results are 
not frequent. 

In the latter part of the dry season, portions of the valley, particu- 
larly the west side, are liable to be visited by sand storms. A cloud 
is first noticed in the northwest, readily recognized by the initiated, 
and soon after the air becomes filled with particles of fine dust. These 
storms are of short duration, and those occurring late in the season, if 
accompanied by a strong wind, are generally followed by light showers. 
Of rarer occurrence are sand storms coming from the south, proba. 
bly not oftener than once in two or three years. The sand cloud is 
heavier, the particles finer, and of a yellowish tinge, but like the oth- 
ers, they are not of long duration. Irrigation and cultivation of the 
land will conduce to the prevention of these storms. They were more 
common when the dry plains were overrun with cattle and sheep, 
which ate the vegetation and trampled the surface into a fine dust. 

Another natural phenomenon, and which is of rare occurrence, is a 
cloud-burst. These have happened in a few instances in the moun- 
tains and hills, where a cloud passing over the ridge meets with a cold 
current of air and is quickly condensed. In some instances they have 
suddenly washed great masses of debris into the gorges or valleys near 
which they occurred, but only on one occasion has any loss of life been 
caused by these cloud-bursts in any part of the mountains contiguous 
to the Southern San Joaquin Valley. 

Many people who have not resided in California, will probably 
think this subject not exhausted without reference to earthquakes, for 



MERCEI 



. 




NAMESorlRRlCA TED COLONIE S, fa 

Fresno- Central Caueo/tn/a. 
Washington-West Park.- Union. 
New England -American.- BELFAST. 
Malaga.- Kearneys-Walters. 
Salinger- Scandinavian-Nevada. 
Church. -Easterby Malt*h 
Richland-Sierra PaakVineyarl . 
Wittram- Walter- The 76. 



argp 



THE SOUTHERN" SAX JOAQUIN VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. G3 

a heavy shock in San Francisco in 18C8, and another in Inyo County 
later, have given the State an unenviable and undeserved reputation. 
Earthquakes seldom occur, and the shocks, when felt, are exceedingly 
light. In portions of the State no shocks have been felt since the set- 
tlement by the whites. In the San Joaquin Valley people have lived 
twenty years without experiencing one, although a few have occurred 
during that time which were noticed elsewhere in the State. It can 
hardly be classed among the natural phenomena common to the South- 
ern San Joaquin Valley. 

Conclusion 

It is impossible to tell everything. Many things have been treated 
briefly, and other important matters may have been omitted. But it 
is necessary to draw the line somewhere. In this description the 
effort has has been made to have the work comprehensive, and yet to 
keep within the bounds of truth in every instance ; glowing colors 
have been studiously avoided. All parts of the Southern San Joaquin 
Valley have been visited in person, and every effort has been made to 
secure the most accurate information on all subjects. An invitation is 
extended to each person desiring to emigrate to California, who reads 
these pages, to visit the southern counties of the San Joaquin Valley 
and satisfy himself as to the resources, the capabilities and the desir- 
ableness of this portion of the State for residence. 

With this briefly summarized review of the great interior plain of 
California, the mountains and valleys, the developed and latent min- 
eral, timber, and agricultural resources, the peerless climate, the pros- 
perous population and happy homes — for many more of which there is 
ample room — a cordial invitation is extended to all worthy people, who 
are seeking homes on this Coast. 




NAMibu. i nmr.Ai en colonies 

FftCSNO- C.CNTRAl CALIFORNIA. 

-WcstPakk.- Union. 

NiwEnCLANO -American BeiFAiT. 

Maiaga.- Kcarney$ -Walters. 
SuiNctH- Scandinavian Nevada 

CMUNCU.-£ASrCABr MALTtn. 

Richiuho-Shuha «<»* vine 
WirrAAM- Waltcr- The 76 



California 



Geography. 

It has been truly said that " California has a peculiar topography. 
No other State comprises within so small a space such various, so 
many, and such strongly marked natural divisions, isolated volcanic 
peaks, vast domes of granite, steep and rugged mountain ridges, fer- 
tile and beautiful valleys, bare deserts, spacious bays, magnificent riv- 
ers, unparalleled waterfalls, picturesque lakes, extensive marshes, broad 
prairies, and dense forests — all these are hers." The State extends in 
a northwesterly and southeasterly course about 750 miles, with an av- 
erage breadth north of Monterey of 200 miles, and south of that point 
of 300 miles, and comprises within its limits an area of about 155,000 
square miles, or 99,000,000 acres, and is the second largest State in the 
Union. 

Population. 

It has a population of about 1,000,000, much scattered, yet the total 
annual production of the mines, farms and manufactories amounts to 
over $150,000,000. The people have nearly $150,000,000 in the sav- 
ings and other banks, and are generally enterprising and prosperous. 

Topography. 

There are two great mountain ranges running northwest and south- 
east, namely ; the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range. The former is 
from 4,000 to 8,000 feet 'high, and the latter from 1,000 to 6,000 feet. 
The two ranges are connected in the southern part of the State at Te- 
hachipi, and in the northern at Mt. Shasta. The Sierra Nevada ex- 
tends along the eastern border of the State, and is about 450 miles 
long ; the Coast Range is along the coast to the north and south bound- 
aries of the State. The base of the Sierra Nevada Range north of 
Fresno has an average width of about 80 miles. The Coast Range av- 
erages about 65 miles in width. 

Between the two ranges are the great Sacramento and San Joaquin 



CALIFORNIA. 66 

valleys, which together are about 450 miles long by 55 miles wide, and 
may be termed the heart of the State. 

In the northern part of the State, and north of the junction of the 
two great mountain ranges, is the Klamath basin, through which runs 
the Klamath river in a southwesterly course, between steep hills and 
mountains and rocky canyons, for a distance of about 225 miles to the 
ocean. The whole basin of the Klamath is very rugged for a distance 
of forty miles from the coast, and along the main river there is very lit- 
tle valley or bottom land. However, there are several small rich 
valleys, and near the lakes are large fertile tracts. Pine, cedar, and 
fir forests cover the mountains, and there are other valuable trees both 
on the mountains and in the valleys. 

In the extreme southeastern portion of the State is the Colorado 
Desert, which i3 about 140 miles long by 70 miles wide. 

Another great basin, called the Mojave basin, and north of the Col- 
orado Desert, extends into the southern part of the State, the surface 
of which is cut up by many irregular ridges of mountains. 

The Coast Range is composed of a multitude of ridges, and is inter- 
sected by numerous long, fertile and narrow valleys, comprising the 
Los Angeles, Salinas, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Napa, and Russian river 
valleys. 

There are many rivers. In the central portion are the Sacramento 
and San Joaquin, each about 350 miles long in their meanderings, 
which are the only navigable streams in the State. There flow from 
the Sierra Range westward into the Sacramento, the Pitt, Feather, 
Yuba, American, Consumnes, and Mokelunme rivers. Into the San 
Joaquin, the Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, Chowchilla and 
Fresno. Into Tulare lake, the Kings, Kaweah, Tule, and White riv- 
ers ; and into Kern Lake, the Kern river. All of these are consider- 
able streams, with an average length of about 120 miles. The upper 
half of each is in the steep and rugged mountains, where they are tor- 
rents. After reaching the plain their currents are gentle, and the 
banks low, fringed with oak, sycamore, cottonwood and willow. 

The rivers of the Coast Range flowing westward into the ocean, 
south of San Francisco, are the San Lorenzo, Pajaro, Salinas, Carmel, 
El Sur and Cuyama, Santa Inez, Santa Maria, San Buenaventura, 
Santa Clara, Los Angeles, San Gabriel, Santa Ana, Santa Margarita, 
San Luis Rey, and S.m Diego, many of which are constant streams 
to within ten or fifteen miles of their mouths, and all of them passing 
through rich valleys. North of San Francisco the main streams of the 
Coast Range which empty into the oc'ean are the Russian, Eel, Elk, 
Mad, Klamath and Smith rivers, besides many others of less impor- 



66 CALIFORNIA. 

tance, all of which are permanent streams, bordered with narrow valleys 
at the foot of the mountains. 

To all the rivers of the State there are many tributaries. 

There are many important lakes — the Tulare, Owens, Kern, Clear, 
Klamath, Goose, Fall, Eagle, Honey, Elizabeth, Tahoe, Mono, and 
Dry lakes. There are also many smaller ones. 

Along the coast of 900 miles there are numerous good harbors, the 
most important of which are those of San Francisco, Humboldt, Wil- 
mington, and San Diego. The former is one of the finest land-locked 
harbors in the world, and the latter is not excelled by many. 

Climate. 

One of the chief advantages of California is its admirable climate. 
It is much varied, differing greatly in different localities. In many 
counties 15 to 30 miles' travel takes one from the region of oranges to 
where only the hardy fruits thrive. 

In the valleys and foothills the winters are mild. In summer the 
nights are cool, and cloudy days are few. Violent wind storms, thun- 
der, lightning, hail, snow and ice are scarcely known. 

On the foothills of the Sierra, after a height of about 2,500 to 3,500 
feet is reached, also northward, in the Coast Range, the climate as we 
ascend approaches more that of the north Atlantic States. 

At San Francisco ice is rarely seen, and the thermometer never re- 
mains at freezing point twenty-four hours. Snow has not been seen, 
except a few flakes, with two exceptions for twenty-five years. 

In the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys the winters are about 
four degrees colder, and the mean temperature in the summer is from 
sixteen to twenty degrees warmer than that at corresponding latitudes 
of the coast. The weather at mid-day is very warm during the drj' 
season. In the southern part of the State the winters are milder. A 
temperature of 100 degrees in the southern and interior portions of 
California, owing to the dry atmosphere, is more endurable than 80 
degrees in the States east of the Rocky Mountains. Sunstroke is un- 
known. 

The following table gives the results of observations at various points 
on the Southern Pacific Railroad as compared with some of the world's 
noted climates : 



CALIFORNIA. 67 

Temperature (degrees above zero). 

Jan. July Jan. July Dif. Lat. 
PLACE. Hottest Hottest 

and and Av. Av. Df.g. Deg. 
Coldest Coldest 

Austin, Tex 36 84 48 30.36 

Borden, Cal 81 17 114 60 42 89 47 36.00 

Cincinnati, 21 77 56 39.06 

Chicago, 111 10 63 53 41.00 

City of Mexico 52 63 11 19.26 

Caliente, Cal 60 25 106 62 46 92 46 35.00 

Delano, Cal 70 21 112 70 47 86 39 35.00 

Dijon, France 33 70 37 47.00 

Fresno, Cal 68 37 109 64 49 87 00 00.00 

Fort Yuma, Arizona 56 92 36 32.43 

Genoa, Italy. 46 77 31 44.24 

Gilroy, Cal 67 16 102 54 41 78 37 37.00 

Goshen, Cal 68 18 112 65 51 91 40 30.00 

Honolulu, S. 1 71 78 7 21.16 

Hollister, Cal 65 25 102 52 48 73 25 36.10 

Jacksonville, Fla 58-80 22 30.50 

Los Angeles, Cal 81 34 103 63 55 67 12 34.04 

Monterey, Cal 66 30 88 54 52 58 6 36.36 

Milan, Italy 33 74 41 45.00 

New York 31 77 46 40.37 

New Orleans, Louisiana 55 82 27 29.57 

Naples, Italy 46 76 30 40.52 

Nice, France 47 75 28 43.00 

Pajaro, Cal 68 28 99 52 49 58 9 36.00 

Richmond, Virginia 73 77 44 37.00 

San Francisco, Cal 61 28 94 53 48 58 10 36.36 

Santa Barbara, Cal 70 31 101 58 56 66 10 36.36 

San Diego, Cal 83 35 103 64 57 65 8 32.41 

Sacramento, Cal 62 25 99 63 45 73 28 38.34 

Stockton, Cal 60 29 100 56 49 72 23 37.56 

San Mateo, Cal 60 25 98 52 46 59 13 37.00 

San Jose, Cal 66 24 103 54 46 69 23 37.00 

Salinas, Cal 60 22 105 56 47 65 18 36.00 

Soledad, Cal 64 18 108 52 43 70 27 36.00 

Savannah, Georgia 39 82 43 32.00 

St. Augustine, Florida 59 77 18 30.05 

Sumner, Cal 63 22 112 60 40 85 00 00.00 

Vallejo, Cal 57 29 105 61 48 67 19 38.05 



68 CALIFORNIA. 

The climate in the extreme northern and northeastern parts of the 
State is cold in winter and warm in summer, and is similar to that of 
the eastern States. 

The temperature of the coast is generally mild and pleasant in sum- 
mer, but north of Santa Barbara is subject to chilly northwest winds. 

The coast counties are subject to regular trade- winds and fogs, for a 
distance of from six to ten miles inland. The fog at times is thick and 
wet, and is little less than a fine drizzly rain, beneficial to crops of 
nearly all kinds. This usually disappears about ten o'clock in the 
morning. 

Seasons. 

The year is divided into two seasons, tue wet and the dry. The wet 
season generally begins about the middle of November, sometimes a 
little earlier or later, and continues until April or May. 

There is occasionally a light shower in June or July. Between har- 
vest and threshing time there is little danger of rain. Grain is often 
left lying in sacks upon the field for months, or until sold. 

The wet season is much the pleasanter time of the year. It is called 
the rainy season, not because the rain falls continuously, but because 
it does not fall at any other time. 

Plowing and seeding commence with the first heavy rains. Harvest- 
ing begins late in May and continues through June and July. 

The average rain- fall of the State is less than at Liverpool and Rome, 
or of Chicago and St. Louis, and about the same as at Paris. In some 
localities, however, in the northern part of the State, it is greater than 
in any of the places named. 

The following table gives the average yearly rain-fall by localities. 

City or Town. County. Inches* 

Crescent City „ Del Norte 34 

Humboldt Bay Humboldt 32 

San Francisco. . San Francisco .23 

Monterey . ... Monterey 15 

Santa Barbara Santa Barbara. 14 

Los Angeles Los Angeles 12 

San Diego San Diego 10 

Bakersfield Kern 5 

Goshen Tulare 4£ 

Fresno Fresno 7£ 

Sacramento Sacramento. . ..19 

Redding Shasta 30 

San Jose Santa Clara ... 1 5 



CALIFORNIA. 60 

When it rains in the valleys the snow usually falls in the mountains. 
It is probable that as much snow falls on the mountains in the eastern 
and northern portions of the State, as in any part of the United States. 
From the north part of Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties northward, 
light snow falls every winter. 

Healthfulness. 

The climate of California is generally considered conducive to health. 
In the low lands, where overflowed, there are at certain seasons some 
miasmatic diseases. But there are no diseases peculiar to California 
alone. 

Portions of the State have long been visited as health resorts, 
particularly in the winter season. 

Timber. 

California produces many varieties of valuable trees, which grow 
both on the mountains and in the valleys. The greatest portion of 
the Sierra Nevada mountains is covered with timber. The oak, man- 
zanita, nut-pine, and other varieties grow to an elevation of about 
2,500 feet above the sea, and dense forests of cone-bearing trees are 
found at an altitude of G,000 feet. The trees ranking first in size 
(known as the Big Trees) attain a height of 300 to 400 feet, with a di- 
ameter of 35 feet, but are not common in California forests. The red- 
wood is the second tree in size in the State, and the first in commer- 
cial value. It is used for lumber, fencing, ties, and fuel, and for all 
kinds of rough and fancy building. It grows on the coast from one to 
thirty miles inland, and the forests extend from the north boundary of 
the State to the south boundary of Monterey county. The redwood 
tree is never found outside this State. The white oak grows to a con- 
siderable size, but is of little value except for fuel. Laurel is one of the 
most beautiful trees of the coast, madrona the most striking. There 
are other valuable and beautiful trees in the State, such as the juni- 
per, yew, walnut, cypress, poplar, willow, live-oak, sycamore, buckeye, 
Cottonwood, etc. The eucalyptus tree, or Australian gum as it is some- 
times called, when set out, grows in all the coast counties of the State 
rapidly, and a grove of these in a few years becomes valuable for fuel. 
White and sugar pine, fir and cedar grow in forests and to great height 
and size, in both the Coast and Sierra Nevada Mountains. These 
make most valuable lumber. 



70 CALIFORNIA. 



Soil. 



The soil is much varied. In some of the valleys it is a loose, rich 
loam. In others it is an adobe, a light or heavy clayey soil, which pro- 
duces excellent crops when once under cultivation. The soil on the 
hills and mountains is rich and mellow, and is very easily worked. 

The prairies are not covered with sod, and the first plowing is near- 
ly as easy as the subsequent ones. The severe task of breaking prairie 
is not known in this State. The soil of the timber lands is similar to 
that of the timber lands in the Western States. 

Productions. 

The agricultural productions of California are more varied than those 
of any other State in the Union. The soil produces, with equal facili- 
ty in the peculiar climates found here, the vines of continental Europe, 
the hardier cereals of North America, and the luxuriant fruits and 
flowers of the semi-tropics. 

California is noted the world over for the excellent quality and 
size of her fruits. 

The blooming flowers in winter are the admiration of visitors. 

Wheat, barley, oats, rye, buckwheat, Indian corn, broom corn, and 
hops are extensively raised in nearly all parts of the State. California 
is the third largest exporter of wheat of all the United States. The 
California wheat is a fine, full berry, light colored, and being very 
dry is particularly desirable for export. California barley is of excep- 
tionally fine quality, and is highly prized by eastern brewers. Hops 
also do well in this State, and are an importan article of export. 
Fruit, honey, wool, and hides are exported in large quantities. 

Garden produce of all kinds is easily raised everywhere. Peas, 
beans, onions, potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, melons, tomatoes, beets, 
carrots, radishes, cabbages, celery, sweet potatoes, etc. 

Tobacco and cotton are grown in the southern part of the State, and 
both promise to become important productions. 

The apple, pear, quince, peach, plum, prune, cherry, apricot, necta- 
rine, olive, and other fruits, and the English walnut, almond, chest- 
nut, and peanut thrive exceedingly well. 

The orange, lemon, lime, fig, pomegranate, etc., grow luxuriantly 
in the southern gardens and orchards. The fig and orange do well as 
far north as Sacramento, and in the semi-tropical belt of the foothills 
as far north as Shasta County. 

Blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants, and 
other small fruit,3 do well in nearly all parts of the State. The grape, 



CALIFORNIA. 71 

both for wine and raisins, does exceptionally well, and raisins are 
competing successfully with the best brands of Malaga. France is also 
yielding the palm to California for the excellence of her wines. 

It has been demonstrated beyond question that California is well 
adapted to the raising of silk. Its equable climate and the rapid growth 
of the mulberry tree have proved in various parts of the State that 
the raising of the silk worm will become an important branch of in- 
dustry. It requires but little capital, and can be carried on by wom- 
en and children as an addition to other farm work. None of the dis- 
eases which have affected the worm in Europe have appeared in this 
State. Samples of the silk raised here have been sent to England, 
France, and Italy, and manufacturers have expressed the opinion that 
it is equal to that produced in the most noted districts of Japan and 
Asia Minor. 

Alfalfa often produces three and even four crops of hay in a single 
season, and is considered invaluable for stock. 

The climate is so mild that all vegetable life in ordinary seasons is 
almost as active here in January as in July in other States. Trees and 
shrubs have nearly twice as much time to grow each year as in the 
Atlantic States. 

The State is also noted for its rich gold, silver, and quicksilver 
mines, and is well supplied with coal, iron, copper, stone, and marble. 

Irrigation. 

If the rainfall is less than ten inches during any season, irrigation is 
necessary. Although there are few localities in the State where the 
average rainfall for a long series of years does not exceed ten inches, 
still in nearly all the counties south of Sacramento and San Francisco 
there are often years when it is less. In the San Joaquin Valley and 
further south in the State, irrigation is general. It is always benefic- 
ial if not used to excess, and when provided adds much to the value 
of the land, and causes it to produce astonishing crops. 

Artesian water, which is found at various depths in the valleys, 
varying from 50 to 500 feet, is largely used for irrigation purposes. 
A good well will irrigate 40 to 160 acres, and costs from $250 to $750. 
Ordinary wells sunk to a depth of from 10 to 80 feet almost anywhere 
in the State yield abundant water. 

Domestic Animals. 

Horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, and hogs are raised in every 
part of the State, and in the greater portion live without shelter. 



J2 €ALIFORNIA. 

Fine blooded stock of all kinds has been introduced, and many farms 
are devoted specially to raising blooded animals. There are blooded 
stock farms in California unsurpassed in the world. Wild oats and 
grasses grow voluntarily in abundance during the wet season, and 
without cutting retain their nutritious qualities when dried by the sum- 
mer sun ; these make excellent feed for horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs 
during the dry season. The late summer, faM, and early winter in 
California is the feeding season for stock, except in the higher alti- 
tudes, where the seasons are similar to those of the Atlantic States. 
Hay is generally obtained by mowing wheat, oats, rye and barley before 
maturity. Alfalfa is extensively grown for hay as well as grazing. 
Millet and mesquit are also coming into use. 

Markets. 

Good markets abound for all productions in the State. The mining 
districts furnish markets for farmers and fruit raisers situated within 
easy reach by wagon. Farming is generally as profitable in this State 
as elsewhere. Wheat, barley, and various other crops can usually be 
sold on the land where produced, to the agents of millmen and ship- 
pers, who traverse the country making purchases. Wheat is shipped 
to Europe by sailing vessels. Fruits, honey, wool, hides, etc., are 
shipped to the Eastern States by the overland railroads. The South- 
ern Pacific Railroad Company is transporting California wheat, flour, 
and other produce to New Orleans for Europe. 

Railroads. 

Although it is but thirty-five years since the discovery of gold in 
California, at which period the State was avast, rich, but unsettled 
region, yet in that short time the progress of civilization has been 
rapid and permanent. Railroads have kept pace with the increase 
in population. Those in operation in the State are the Pacific 
System of the Southern Pacific Company, embracing the following 
lines : 

Main Line (Central Pacific) San Francisco to Ogden. The Western, 
Northern, and Visalia Divisions thereof. The Oregon Division. The 
California Pacific, embracing the Napa Branch. The Northern Rail- 
way, the San Pablo and Tulare Railway, the Amador Branch, the 
Stockton and Copperopolis. The Northern Division of the Southern 
Pacific, embracing the Monterey, Tres Pinos, Soledad, and Santa 
Cruz lines. That portion of the line of the Southern Pacific Compa- 
nj% south of Goshen, embracing the Los Angeles and Yuma Divisions, 



CALIFORNIA. 73 

Wilmington Division, the Los Angeles and Independence, and the Los 
Angeles and San Diego Railroads ; the last three embraced in the Los 
Angeles Division. 

There are also the following other railroads : the Northern Califor- 
nia ; California Southern ; Nevada County Narrow Gauge ; North Pa- 
cific Coast ; Pacific Coast ; Sacramento and Placerville ; Sonoma Val- 
ley ; Sonoma and Santa Rosa ; San Francisco and North Pacific ; 
South Pacific Coast ; Vaca Valley and Clear Lake ; Carson and Colo- 
rado ; Nevada and Oregon, and the Atlantic and Pacific. 

Much of the State is yet but poorly provided with railroad facilities, 
but these will doubtless be supplied in the future, as settlement may 
require. The roads already in operation give a large portion of the 
State ready communication with the centers of trade, and with San 
Francisco, the metropolis of the Pacific Coast. The Pacific System of 
the Southern Pacific Company, with its connections with the Atlantic 
System of the same Company, and with the Union Pacific, Atlantic and 
Pacific, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, Texas and Pacific, the Den- 
ver and Rio .Grande, the Northern Pacific, (connection with the latter 
road not yet completed), and the railroads further east, provide am- 
ple and ready means of communication with all portions of the Unit- 
ed States, British America, and the Republic of Mexico. 



Cities and Centers of Communication. 

There are many important towns and cities. San Francisco, on the 
bay of the same name, is the most important city and the commercial 
metropolis of the Pacific coast. It is the gateway of Oriental trade 
with the United States. It is to the Pacific coast what New York city 
is to the Atlantic coast. The population is about 275,000. Oakland, 
on the opposite side of the same bay, has a population of about 
40,000. Sacramento, the capital of the State, is on the Sacramento 
river, and on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, about ninety 
miles north-easterly from San Francisco. The population is esti- 
mated at 30,000. Los Angeles, San Jose, and Stockton are the 
three next in size. The population of Los Angeles is about 30,000, 
San Jose 20,000, and Stockton 17,000. Los Angeles is the metropolis 
of the southern part of the State, and is situated in the heart of the 
orange region. There are eighteen towns which have each a popula- 
tion exceeding 2,000 and less than 10,000. There are nineteen with 
a population of over 1,000 and less than 2,000. There are thirty-seven 
towns with a population of over 500 and less than 1,000, besides a 
multitude of smaller villages. 



74 CALIFORNIA. 

Schools, Churches, and Benevolent Associations. 

The common schools are the pride of the State. Free education is 
provided, and is within the reach of all. Wherever fifteen children 
can be gathered to form a school, it is entitled to support at the public* 
expense. 

In the large towns are first-class high schools. There are also a num- 
ber of academies and colleges, some of them first-class institutions. 
There are also military, medical, and theological schools. San Fran- 
cisco supports three commercial colleges. Besides these are the State 
Normal School and University, both supported by the State. 

The leading church denominations are well established. 

In all the leading towns the principal benevolent associations have 
organizations. 

Private Lands. 

Private lands vary in price from two dollara and fifty cents an acre 
for unimproved lands remote from towns, to ten dollars an acre near 
towns ; and from ten dollars to one hundred dollars an acre for im- 
proved land, according to value of improvements, and proximity to 
large or small towns. 

Free Government Lands. 

The Immigration Association has searched the United States records 
in California, to ascertain the exact location and quality of the mil- 
lions of acres of unentered Government lands in the State, for the 
purpose of aiding immigrants to locate on them with the least possible 
expense and loss of time. It has been found that there are Govern- 
ment lands suitable for general farming, which can be recommended 
for settlement, in nearly every county in the State. 

The following will give some idea of their location and character. 

Area of California 98,000,000 acres. 

Area of unentered government land 40,000,000 " 

Area suitable for lumbering, mining and other pursuits 16,000,000 " 

Area suitable for some agricultural purpose 18,000,000 " 

Area of lakes, bays, navigable rivers, and lands steep 

or rocky, or otherwise not productive 6,000,000 " 

COUNTIES. ACRES. 

Alpine 465,000 

Amador 255,000 



CALIFORNIA. 



75 



COITNTIES. ACRES. 

Butte 150,000 

Calaveras 250,000 

Colusa 235,000 

Eldorado 365,000 

Fresno 3,700,000 

Kern 2,000,000 

Lake 400,000 

Lassen 2,700,000 

Los Angeles 150,000 

Mendocino 1,500,000 

Merced 65,000 

Monterey 500,000 

Napa 15,000 

Nevada 135,000 

Placer 175,000 

San Benito 200,000 

San Bernardino 5,000,000 

San Diego 2,500,000 

San Luis Obispo 325,000 

Santa Barbara 150,000 

Santa Clara 35,000 

Santa Cruz 5,000 

Shasta 1,500,000 

Sierra 210,000 

Siskiyou 2,655,000 

Sonoma 130,000 

Stanislaus 65,000 

Tehama 850,000 

Tulare 2,000 : 000 

Tuolumne 655,000 

Ventura 150,000 

Yolo 55,000 

Yuba 40,000 

Humboldt county is estimated at 1,500,000 

In 17 other counties 8,410,000 

In Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Alameda, Napa, Sono- 
ma, Solano, and the south part of Lake and Mendocino, and in all oth- 
er counties in the State near the railroads or important towns, the gov- 
ernment lands are those which are left after selections of the best have 
been made from time to time for many years. They are generally 
very mountainous, and often rocky and bare, but frequently covered 



76 CALIFORNIA. 

with valuable timber, occasionally having good soil, and springs or 
small streams. These lands, much scattered, are from four to twenty- 
five miles from towns or railroads, sometimes near settlers, and occa- 
sionally close to valuable farms. Some are doubtless suitable for graz- 
ing, or perhaps for growing grapes or fruits, or for general farming. 

The government land of San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino 
counties is on the foothills, mountains, and deserts. How much of it 
can be utilized without irrigation is uncertain. It is generally under- 
stood that irrigation is necessary in these counties, and that on the 
foothills and in the deserts water cannot be obtained for this purpose. 
Whether true or not, farming without it would be experimental at 
present. On the mountains, at an elevation of 2,000 to 4,500 feet, 
there is more rainfall, and lands there in all these counties would be 
more certain to produce crops. 

In Ventura and Santa Barbara counties the government lands are 
generally mountainous, with narrow valleys, numerous springs and 
small streams, and scattering timber. Many good homes can be made 
on these lands. 

In San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and San Benito counties the gov- 
ernment lands are in the mountains, rolling hills, and narrow valleys. 
In the two former counties there are good mountain lands near the 
ocean and rolling hills in the interior. In San Benito county there is 
yet some good valley land. It is thought irrigation is necessary. Run- 
ning water is scarce, and water in wells is deep down. Irrigation is 
not necessary in Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monte- 
rey, and portions of San Benito counties, but if water can be obtained, 
and it should be properly used, it would be beneficial to some crops. 

In Lake, Mendocino, and Humboldt counties the government lands 
are generally mountainous, with narrow valleys and plateaux, covered 
with valuable timber of pine, oak, cedar, laurel, etc. , with consider- 
able undergrowth. There are many open places, either level or slop- 
ing enough to be plowed, and where nutritious grasses grow during 
the rainy season. Nearly every section is well watered by pure, cold 
springs or running streams. Some of these lands are stony and the 
soil light, but generally there is good soil to the very summits of the 
mountains. Rich tracts for farming can be had by clearing off the 
trees and underbrush. There is very little government land left on 
the coast, and it is necessary to go into the interior from fifteen to fifty 
miles to get good land. Thousands of splendid mountain homes can 
be made here. There is an abundance of rainfall, and failure of crops 
is almost unknown. In Trinity and Del Norte counties the lands are 
more mountainous and rugged, and the mountains higher. There are 
a few pretty valleys, with some government land still subject to set- 
tlement. 



CALIFORNIA. 77 

In Siskiyou, Modoc, Lassen, and the northern portion of Shasta 
counties the government lands are in the mountains, hills, valleys and 
plains. There are extensive valleys and plains from 3,500 to 4,500 
feet above the sea. The mountains are from 3,000 to 14,440 feet high. 
Favorable locations for general fanning, grain, hay, stock, and hardy 
fruits can be secured for thousands of settlers. The seasons are well 
denned, the winters being similar to those of the northern States. 
They are long, and the snow deep on the higher mountains. 

The foothills are a tract of rolling, rounded country along the west- 
ern base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, extending in height to 
about 4,000 feet, and in length to about 350 miles through Shasta, 
Tehama, Placer, Yuba, Butte, Plumas, Nevada, El Dorado, Amador, 
Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties. 
There are about 3,000,000 acres yet belonging to the government in 
this district. It consists of flats, plateaux, and ravines, with rocky and 
steep places. It is well timbered, has an abundant rainfall north of 
Tuolumne county, and has a semi-tropical climate extending through 
the full length. Every agricultural product that can be grown in the 
valleys can be grown with equal facility in these foothills, including 
the semi-tropical fruits. Oranges, etc., grown here have been pro- 
nounced equal to the best Los Angeles. Ordinarily the land must be 
cleared of trees and brush. Throughout the whole region living 
streams are numerous. There are over fifty considerable tributaries 
to the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, passing through this dis- 
trict, besides innumerable smaller streams. The foothills on the east 
side of the Coast Range extend through Shasta, the most of Tehama, 
Colusa, Yolo, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Stanislaus, Merced, 
Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties. In Shasta, Tehama, and Colusa 
counties these lands nearly -all belong to the government, and many of 
them will make good homes for general farming. The soil is good and 
there is plenty of timber. On the higher mountains there is an abun- 
dance of timber suitable for lumber of all kinds. There is not as much 
rainfall as in the Sierra Nevadas in the same latitude, nor are there as 
many springs or streams. Irrigation is not necessary. 

In the central regions of the valley, the hills receive for each 100 feet 
of ascent from one-half to three-fourths of an inch of rainfall more, an- 
nually, than in the same latitude in the bottom lands. 

The temperature, up to a height of about 1,500 feet, is similar to 
places in the same latitude in the valley. 

In Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties, these coast foot-hills also be- 
long to the government. They have a beautiful appearance, but the 
rainfall is light, and there are no perpetual streams. If artesian water 
can be had, no doubt they would become valuable for agricultural pur- 
poses. 



78 CALIFORNIA. 

Title to the government lands may be acquired under the Homestead, 
Pre-emption, Timber, Timber Culture and Timber Laws. 

Capital Necessary for New Comers. 

The question arises as regards the smallest sum considered necessary 
for a new comer to start with. Those who come here to make homes 
for themselves should have $500 to $1,000 to start with, even on the 
government lands. There will be some years of close effort. Poultry 
must be kept, vegetables raised, odd jobs of work done for the neigh- 
bors. But thus, on even this small capital, a valuable property can be 
developed in the course of eight or ten years. If private lands are pre- 
ferred, it is best to purchase only as much as can certainly be paid for. 
A small piece of good land is better than a large piece of poor land. 
Develop this thoroughly, and make it profitable, and more land can be 
had at some future time. Many failures have arisen from attempting 
too much. The new settler who deserves success begins at bed-rock, 
keeps out of debt, buys as little as he can, wears his old clothes, works 
early and late, plants trees and vines for the future, leaves whisky 
alone, and has a definite aim and plan in life. Such a man can come 
to California with a small capital, and find it a " good State for the poor 
man." Those who are content to work and be patient here, will find 
the reward sure and ample. Is it not worth while to have a home in 
a land where there are no violent extremes of heat and cold, and where 
the farmer can work in comfort every month in the year 1 



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ARTHUR R. BRIGGS, President. WM. 8TEINHART, Treasurer. 

W. L. MERRY, Vice-President C. u. STR] iry and Land Officer 



Immigration Association » f California 

Office, No. 10 California Street, 

Corner Drunmi St., Koom 20, up stairs, SAN FRANCISCO. 



The Immigration Association of California is supported by the 
merchants and other business men of California, to give free information 
about the Government and other Lands, Climate, Resources, Wages. 
Markets, etc , of California. 

Office Hours from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., except Sundays. 



The Work of the Immigration Association, 

RECEIVING IMMIGRANTS. 

Every day an agent of the Association meets the Immigrant Train and 
■ distributes printed matter and directs the Immigrant to the Office of the 
Association 

On his arrival at the office, the name of the new comer is registered, 
l together with his age and occupation, whether single or married, number 
of children, place of birth, last permanent residence, destination, etc. 

In the office are maps and plats of the government land in the State. 
At a single glance at a county map he can see all the government land 
\ vacant in that county, together with its character. 

Competent men are employed to answer questions and direct immi- 
> grants where to get land, to furnish them plats and direct them how to find 
it. Newspapers from every county in the State are on file in the reading 
room. In the library are one hundred scrap books, one for each county^ 
and forty-eight others treating of the different res ..urces of the State. 
Here are exhibited samples of the various productions of the State. 
A table with writing materials and conveniences for writing are prepared 
for the use of and are free to all Immigrants. 

Every few days parties are formed in the office and sent out with the 

: Land Examiner of the Association, who points out to them the best loca- 

| tions on government lands. The Association makes no charge for infor- 

1 mat ion given or anything done for the Immigrant. All assistance rendered 

is absolutely free. 

The settler here sets informatioM which he could not otherwise, obtain 
without considerable traveling and expense, and much loss of time. 







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